Question 1

True or false: Sankara was a close ally of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and received military aid from the CIA.

Accepted Answer

False. Sankara was a Marxist who opposed imperialism, criticized Western debt, and was seen as a threat by the U.S. and France.

Question 2

True or false: Thomas Sankara renamed his country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning 'Land of Upright People.'

Accepted Answer

True. He changed the name in 1984 to shed colonial legacy and reflect revolutionary pride. 'Burkina' means 'upright,' and 'Faso' means 'land.'

Question 3

True or false: Sankara ordered that all government officials drive luxury cars to project national pride.

Accepted Answer

False. He actually forced officials to drive cheap Renault 5s and sold the state’s fleet of Mercedes to cut costs and reduce elitism.

Question 4

True or false: Sankara launched one of Africa’s largest vaccination campaigns, immunizing millions against measles and meningitis.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1985, he mobilized 2.5 million children in just two weeks, drastically reducing child mortality—a WHO-recognized feat.

Question 5

True or false: Sankara banned female genital mutilation and forced marriages within his first year in power.

Accepted Answer

True. His government outlawed these practices and promoted women's rights, appointing women to high government positions—rare in 1980s Africa.

Question 6

True or false: Sankara survived an assassination attempt by former ally Blaise Compaoré in 1985.

Accepted Answer

False. Compaoré was his close friend and later led the 1987 coup that killed him. There was no known earlier attempt by Compaoré.

Question 7

True or false: Sankara banned the IMF and World Bank from Burkina Faso, calling debt a neo-colonial trap.

Accepted Answer

True. He rejected structural adjustment programs, arguing that poor countries couldn't repay debt that enriched former colonizers. His policies focused on self-sufficiency.

Question 8

True or false: Sankara introduced a national language policy making French the only official language of Burkina Faso.

Accepted Answer

False. He promoted local languages and literacy in Mooré and other indigenous tongues, reducing French dominance in administration and education.

Thomas Sankara Trivia Questions