Contribution to Book
Thomas Sankara’s Ideology and Political Leadership
The Political Impact of African Military Leaders: Soldiers as Intellectuals, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and Statesmen
(2023)
Abstract
The search for Africa’s development through effective political leadership and governance has continued to attract scholarly interests and policy debates on the importance of re-visiting the political ideology and development strategies of past leaders whose ideas for the total liberation of Africa might still be relevant in our contemporary era. Leaders such as Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso and Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana, among others, are some of the transformational leaders whose ideas and achievements have continued to be debated. While the background and leadership styles of these leaders were military and authoritarian in nature, it will be out of place to disregard the achievements of these military leaders in Africa’s development discourse. Thomas Sankara was one of those extraordinary political leaders whose ideology and leadership are still being debated in relation to how his ideas and strategies can be re-visited to help address the challenges of Africa’s development. To explore these issues, the chapter examines Sankara’s political ideology and leadership within the context of his impact as a military officer, nationalist, statesman, and a Pan-Africanist. The chapter argues that Sankara’s ideas and strategies of development are still relevant to the discourse on Africa's development agenda.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer 2023
Editor
Sabella Ogbobode Abidde and Felix Kumah-Abiwu
Publisher
Springer
Citation Information
Felix Kumah-Abiwu. "Thomas Sankara’s Ideology and Political Leadership" The Political Impact of African Military Leaders: Soldiers as Intellectuals, Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and Statesmen (2023) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/felix_kumah-abiwu/60/