Even though Thomas Sankara’s family declared they wouldn’t be present, the military administration in Burkina Faso is getting ready to rebury the former president’s remains on Thursday.
The secret ceremony will take place where Sankara and 12 other people were shot dead in an attempted military coup in October 1987.
His family indicated they wouldn’t go because they didn’t like the location, but the government claimed that “socio-cultural and security imperatives of national interest” dictated the choice of location.
Sankara’s anti-imperialist attitude and austere lifestyle have made him a hero to many people in Africa.
The government says his reburial will be done according to customary and religious funeral rites.
Sankara rose to power 1983 and was killed four years later at the age of 37 in a coup led by by his close friend Blaise Compaoré.
Mr Compaoré proceeded to rule the country for 27 years before being deposed in 2014 after a popular uprising. He was handed a life sentence in absentia in 2022 for the death of Mr Sankara.