Thomas Sankara Speaks. Thomas Sankara
the solid basis, of revolutionary power in Upper Volta. Its chief task will be the total conversion of the entire state machinery with its laws, administration, courts, police, and army, which have been fashioned to serve and defend the selfish interests of the reactionary social classes and layers. Its task will be to organise the struggle against the counter-revolutionary intrigues seeking to reconquer “Paradise Lost”, on the road to completely crushing the resistance of the reactionaries who are nostalgic for the past. Therein lies the need for and the role of the CDRs as the base of operations for the popular masses as they storm the citadels of reaction and counter-revolution.
FOR AN ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE, ROLE, AND FUNCTIONING OF THE CDRS
Building a popular democratic state, which is the ultimate goal of the August revolution, cannot and will not be done in a single day. It is an arduous task that will demand enormous sacrifices of us. The democratic character of this revolution requires us to decentralise and spread out administrative power and draw the administration closer to the people, in order to make public matters the concern of everyone. In this immense and long-term endeavour, we have set about revising the administrative map of the country for greater efficiency.
We have also set about replacing those managing administrative services, to guide this in a more revolutionary direction. At the same time, we have dismissed government officials and military officers who, for various reasons, cannot keep pace with the revolution today. Much remains for us to do, and we are aware of that.
The National Council of the Revolution – which, in the revolutionary process launched on 4 August, is the power that plans, leads, and oversees political, economic, and social life on a national level – must have local bodies in the various sectors of national life. Therein lies the profound significance of the creation of the CDRs, which are the representatives of revolutionary power in the villages, the urban neighbourhoods, and the workplaces.
The CDRs are the authentic organisation of the people for wielding revolutionary power. This is the instrument the people have forged in order to take genuine command of their destiny and thereby extend their control into all areas of society. The people’s arms, the people’s power, the people’s wealth – it will be the people who manage these. The CDRs exist for that purpose.
The CDRs’ functions are enormous and varied. Their main task is to organise the Voltaic people as a whole and involve them in the revolutionary struggle. Organised into CDRs, the people acquire not only the right to have a say on the problems of their future, but also to participate in making and carrying out decisions on their future. The revolution, as an accurate theory for destroying the old order and building a new type of society in its place, can be led only by those who have a stake in it.
The CDRs are therefore the shock troops who will attack all the strongholds of resistance. They are the builders of revolutionary Upper Volta. They are the seeds that must carry the revolution into all the provinces, all our villages, all public and private workplaces, all homes, and all milieus. In order to do that, the revolutionary militants within the CDRs must zealously outdo each other in carrying out the following vital tasks:
1.Action directed toward CDR members. Revolutionary militants bear responsibility for politically educating their comrades. The CDRs must be schools of political education. The CDRs are the appropriate framework in which militants discuss decisions of the higher bodies of the revolution, the CNR, and the government.
2.Action directed toward the popular masses, aimed at creating overwhelming support among them for the CNR’s goals through bold and constant propaganda and agitation. The CDRs must be able to counter the propaganda and lying slanders of reaction with appropriate revolutionary propaganda and explanations, based on the principle that only the truth is revolutionary.
The CDRs must listen to the masses so that they understand their moods and needs, in order to inform the CNR in a timely way and make corresponding concrete proposals. They are urged to look at questions concerning the improvement of the situation of the popular masses by supporting the initiatives taken by the masses themselves.
It is vitally necessary for the CDRs to maintain direct contact with the popular masses by periodically organising public meetings at which questions of interest to them are discussed. This is essential if the CDRs wish to help apply the CNR’s directives correctly. The CNR’s decisions will be explained in this way to the masses through propaganda activities. All measures aimed at improving their living conditions will also be explained. The CDRs must fight together with the popular masses of the cities and countryside against their enemies, against the adversities of nature, and for the transformation of their material and moral existence.
3.The CDRs must work in a rational manner, thereby illustrating one of the features of our revolution: its rigour. Consequently, they should equip themselves with coherent and ambitious plans of action that all their members must follow.
Since 4 August – a date that has now become historic for our people – in response to the appeal of the National Council of the Revolution, Voltaics have taken initiatives to equip themselves with CDRs. CDRs have thus been established in the villages, in urban neighbourhoods, and will soon be in workplaces, in public services, in factories, and within the army. All this is the result of spontaneous action by the masses. Work must now be done to structure them internally on a clear basis and to organise them on a national scale. The National General Secretariat of the CDRs is currently taking up this task. While waiting for definitive results from studies currently under way based on accumulated experiences, we will limit ourselves to outlining the plan and the general guiding principles for the functioning of the CDRs.
The main idea behind the creation of the CDRs is to democratise power. The CDRs will become organs through which the people exercise local power derived from the central power, which is vested in the National Council of the Revolution. The CNR is the supreme power except during sessions of the national congress. It is the leading organ of this entire structure, whose guiding principle is democratic centralism.
On the one hand, democratic centralism is based on the subordination of lower bodies to higher ones, of which the CNR is the highest and to which all organisations are subordinate. On the other hand, this centralism remains democratic, since the principle of elections is the rule at all levels, and the autonomy of the local bodies is recognised regarding all questions under their jurisdiction, but within the limits and in accordance with the general directives drawn up by the higher body.
ON REVOLUTIONARY MORALITY WITHIN THE CDRs
The revolution aims to transform all aspects of society – economic, social, and cultural. It aims to create a new Voltaic man, with exemplary morality and social behaviour that inspires the admiration and confidence of the masses. Neo-colonial domination led to such a state of deterioration of our society that it will take us years to cleanse it.
Nevertheless, CDR members must forge a new consciousness and a new behaviour with the aim of setting a good example for the masses. While making the revolution, we must pay attention to our own qualitative transformation. Without a qualitative transformation of the very people who are supposed to be the architects of the revolution, it is practically impossible to create a new society rid of corruption, theft, lies, and individualism in general.
We must strive to have our actions match our words and watch our social behaviour so as not to open ourselves up to attack by the counter-revolutionaries who lie in wait. If we always keep in mind that the interests of the popular masses take precedence over personal gain, then we will avoid going off course.
The activities of some militants who harbour the counter-revolutionary dream of amassing property and profits through the CDRs must be denounced and combated. The prima donna mentality must be eliminated. The sooner these inadequacies are combated, the better it will be for the revolution.
From our point of view, a revolutionary is someone who knows how to be modest, while at the same time being among the most resolute in carrying out the tasks entrusted to him. He fulfils them without boasting and expects no reward.
We have noticed lately certain individuals who actively participated in the revolution and who expected that this would entitle them to privileged treatment, honours, and