Africa’s Seven Worst Living Tyrants and Dictators

Source: Alliance of Professional Africans in the Diaspora

In the wake of the vigilant “People Power Revolution” demonstrated by the people of Egypt, the Alliance of Professional Africans in the Diaspora deemed it was necessary to put "on blast" seven of Africa’s worst dictators and tyrants and expose their suppressive regimes.

These egotistical and self serving so-called leaders are not only impeding the development of the continent but are also raping and depriving their people of their fair share of the countries’ resources.

These so-called leaders have something in common – they pretend to hold free and fair democratic election after jailing the opposition candidates. They imposed unnecessary emergency power laws to side-line the opposition parties. They manifest cult of personality syndromes. They have suppressive regimes and lack check and balance. They have bad governance. Their administrations are plaque by nepotism, bribery, cronyism and rampant corruption.

The following are Africa’s seven worst living tyrants and dictators:

Muammar Gaddafi of Libya

Muammar al-Qaddafi – For 42 years, Qaddafi has imposed himself upon the people of Libya. He seized power in a bloodless military coup in September 1969. He literally sits on top of Africa's largest oil reserves, and is known to purchase whatever he wants including friendships. He had himself introduced at the 2009 UN General Assembly Hall as the “leader of the revolution, the president of the African Union, the king of kings of Africa.”

Sandwiched between Tunisia and Egypt, Libya appears to be experiencing the after effect from the “people's movement” experienced in those countries. Both leaders of Tunisia and Libya were ousted by the popular uprisings. For years, Gaddafi government had banned all opposition groups. Demonstrations are presently ongoing in cities across the country. Gaddafi is reported to have given shoot-to-kill order against the protesters. Libya's army and police today killed twenty protesters.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo – For 32 years, Obiang has imposed himself upon the people of Equatorial Guinea. He assumed power in Equatorial Guinea when he kicked his uncle Macias out of the palace in August 1979. He was elected in 1996 and 2002 during the country’s first two multi-party elections, both widely deemed fraudulent. A quote from an article, “Who's Africa’s Worst Dictator?” referred to administration as, “His is the Switzerland of dictatorships—so effective at enforcing obedience that the spectacle of unrest is invisible.”Most domestic and international observers consider his regime to be one of the most corrupt, ethnocentric, oppressive and undemocratic states in the world. Equatorial Guinea is now essentially a single-party state, dominated by Obiang's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE). In 2008 American journalist Peter Maass called Obiang Africa's worst dictator, worse than Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The constitution grants Obiang wide powers, including the power to rule by decree.

Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola
Jose Eduardo dos Santos – For 30 years, dos Santos has imposed himself upon the people of Angola. He assumed Angola’s presidency in September 1979. Since then, the nation rich in oil and diamonds has remained mostly poor. In 2010, Angola's parliament approved a new Constitution that will further concentrate power in the hands of President José Eduardo dos Santos. Under the new Constitution, dos Santos, 67, will not have to be directly voted into office by the populace. Instead, the president will be selected by the victorious party in parliamentary elections. dos Santos’s party, the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, known as the M.P.L.A., dominates Parliament and controls the state media and a lode of oil-fueled patronage.

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe

Robert Mugabe – For 31 years, Mugabe has imposed himself upon the people of Zimbabwe. He became Zimbabwe’s prime minister in 1980 following independence from Great Britain. The former Marxist guerrilla became president in 1987 and has held fast to that position despite a deep financial crisis pushing inflation above 200,000 percent. He formed a unity government in 2009 with opposition Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

At 87-years-old, instead of retiring, Mugabe is determine to cling on to power until his last breath. His health his health has deteriorated and compromise critical government operations. Mugabe is currently in Singapore for an unspecified medical procedure thus making it impossible for the cabinet to meet for their usual Tuesday meeting. Zimbabwe’s cabinet meets every Tuesday from 9am in the cabinet room at Munhumutapa Building in Harare to discuss issues concerning the nation.Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been fighting with Mugabe over the chairing of cabinet, said yesterday government business should not be disrupted by the president’s absence. “The prime minister’s view is that government business should not be sacrificed due to the absence of any one of the leaders of the country. We should follow constitutional mechanisms when it comes to the sitting of cabinet and council of ministers,” Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said. “This means in the absence of the chair, the deputy must preside over the relevant body to allow government business to proceed uninterrupted.”

Denis Sassou Nguesso

Denis Sassou Nguesso – For 31 years, Nguesso has imposed himself upon the people of the Republic of Congo. He seized the presidency in a 1979 coup but then lost the country’s first elections in 1992. He regained the presidency in 1997 and was re-elected in 2004. The Republic of Congo is one of sub-Saharan Africa's main oil producers, though 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. Oil is the mainstay of the economy and in recent years the country has tried to increase financial transparency in the sector.

Paul Biya of Cameroon

Paul Biya – For 28 years, Biya has imposed himself upon the people of Cameroon. He assumed Cameroon’s presidency in November 1982. In his book, “Tyrants, the World's 20 Worst Living Dictators,” David Wallechinsky noted that “Every few years, Biya stages an election to justify his continuing reign, but these elections have no credibility. In fact, Biya is credited with a creative innovation in the world of phony elections. In 2004, annoyed by the criticisms of international vote-monitoring groups, he paid for his own set of international observers, six ex-U.S. congressmen, who certified his election as free and fair.” According to Cameroon’s constitution until 2008, this guy could not stand for another seven year term in the upcoming October 2011 elections. But he single-handily changed the constitutional limit on Presidential terms in April 2008, ignoring the protests and riots of the people of Cameroon.

King Mswati III of Swaziland

King Mswati III – For 25 years, Mswati has imposed himself upon the people of Swaziland. In 1986, he succeeded his father Sobhuza II. He is one of the last so-called absolute monarchs in the world. This guy leadership style, or lack of, is a joke! He has the sole power to appoint and fire the country's Prime Minister, members of the cabinet, and the judiciary. He also have the authority to choose his own successor. As head of one of the poorest country and country with the highest percentage of AIDS cases in the world, Mswati III is known for his taste for luxury and his practice of polygamy. He has at least 13th wives. During the country's annual Reed Dance ceremony about 50,000 bare-breasted minor virgins parade the stadium. At the end of the ceremony, Mswati literally selects one of the girls as his wife. At times the girls are taken against the will of their parents. In one case, a mother sued Mswati to prevent him from marrying her daughter. Following is the response from the King's office regarding the lawsuit – "We have traditional forums where such issues should be addressed and we are surprised this woman decided to go to court," said Malamlela Magagula, a royal adviser. "The (king) wondered whether (the) mother was really a Swazi citizen or not."

Mswati recently fired his Minister of Justice, Ndumiso Mamba, after he was caught having sex with one of his many wives, 22-year-old Nothando Dube.