Ouagadougou: The day after the inauguration of the Mausoleum dedicated to President Thomas Sankara and his twelve companions, the Municipality of Ouagadougou immortalized one of the faithful friends of the father of the Burkinabe Revolution. On May 18, 2025, it named a newly developed avenue in the 05th district after the former president of Ghana. The ceremony, chaired by Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ou©draogo, took place in the presence of a delegation from the Rawlings family and numerous dignitaries.

According to Burkina Information Agency, more than two kilometers long, with two lanes separated by a central reservation, the avenue named after the late President John Jerry Rawlings begins in the north with Avenue Jean-Paul II and ends in the south with Boulevard Capitaine Isidore No«l Thomas Sankara.

It was the Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism, Government Spokesperson, Pingdwend© Gilbert Ou©draogo, who delivered the Prime Minister's address to the audience at this tribute ceremony. He paid tribute to the memory of a fighter for the emancipation of the continent, a voice of Pan-Africanism, a son of Africa, a friend of Captain Thomas Sankara and Burkina Faso.

"In our history, we recognize the true value of the multifaceted and selfless support that President Jerry John Rawlings once gave to Captain Thomas Isidore No«l Sankara, father of the Burkina Faso Revolution. We cannot ignore the willingness he showed in his time to reveal the truth during the investigation into the trial of President Sankara's assassination," he declared.

At the end of his remarks, the spokesperson for the Burkinabe Government stated that "For our country where the integration and unity of peoples are already a reality in daily life, the naming of an avenue in memory of President John Jerry Rawlings is intended as an invitation to consolidate everything that unites our two peoples and to ensure that present and future generations pursue our common objective, that of building a united and prosperous Africa."

Present at the ceremony, Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings, daughter of the deceased, recalled the esteem and attachment that her late father showed to President Thomas Sankara until his death on November 12, 2020. She affirmed that this tribute from the Burkinabe people is a source of pride for her entire family and the Jerry John Rawlings Foundation.

As a reminder, the commitment shown by the late President John Jerry Rawlings to the construction of the Thomas Sankara Memorial is well known. He was among the officials at the project's launch ceremony on October 2, 2016, at Revolution Square.