You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.

As President he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car four bikes three guitars a fridge and a broken freezer. During the presidency of Colonel Saye Zerbo a group of young officers formed a secret organisation "Communist Officers' Group" (Regroupement des officiers communistes or ROC) the best-known members being Henri Zongo Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani Compaoré and Sankara. Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21 1949 – October 15 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain Marxist revolutionary Pan-Africanist theorist and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.

On the localized level Sankara also called on every village to build a medical dispensary and had over 350 communities construct schools with their own labour. To counter his opposition in towns and workplaces around the country he also tried corrupt officials counter-revolutionaries and "lazy workers" in peoples revolutionary tribunals. Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (December 21 1949 – October 15 1987) was a Burkinabé military captain Marxist revolutionary Pan-Africanist theorist and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.