The Thomas Sankara family waited patiently for it and when the show of remorse came from deposed leader Blaise Compaore it took the shape of a letter handed to the transitional president in Ouagadougou on Tuesday by an Ivorian official.
Compaore who was toppled in 2014 and forced to flee to Ivory Coast asked for forgiveness from Sankara family who are still smarting from the way he was killed in a coup led by his former friend 36 years ago.
A positive signal for national reconciliation in Burkina Faso?
After his brief stay in Ouagadougou in July upon the invitation of the junta acting in the spirit of national reconciliation, Compaoré apologised using the words “brother and friend” to describe his relations with the slain Burkina leader who became something of a continental icon for African activists keen on an African renaissance.
In fire-and-brimstone speeches between 1984 and 18987, Sankara was known for preaching that Africa should rise by its own will and power and realise its independence dream as a strong force in the world.
“I ask forgiveness to the people of Burkina Faso for all the acts I may have committed during my term of office and especially to the family of my brother and friend Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara,” wrote ex President Compaore in a message read by the spokesman for the government of Burkina Faso, Lionel Bilgo.
“I fully accept and deplore all the suffering and tragedies experienced by all the victims during my tenure as head of the country and ask their families to forgive me,” Compaore’s letter said.
Blaise Compaoré, 71, came to power in 1987 after a coup that cost the life of the then president, Thomas Sankara to whom he was closest.
After 27 years in power, Compaoré was ousted in October 2014 by a popular uprising and has been living in exile in Côte d’Ivoire ever since.
On 6 April 2022, a Burkinabe military court sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment for his involvement in the assassination of his predecessor.
In his letter to the new authorities of the country of men of integrity, Blaise Compaoré maintains that “Burkina has been experiencing for several years one of the most serious crises in its history, which threatens its very existence. This nation deserves better than the disastrous fate that terrorists want to reserve for it”.
TE/ard/lb/abj/as/APA