There is no doubt that Western domination, imperialism, and colonialism is one of the major reasons why the continent of Africa remains behind the other continent and is not yet a global power despite its abundance of resources BUT what about those Greedy African leaders who due to their selfishness and love for power allow tis Western domination?. These leaders turn a blind eye to the continued exploration of their country’s resources by the West as long as they receive backup that would keep them in power.Some of them have stayed in power for so long that they forget that their country is a Democracy not a Monarchy. And even though their country is always among the poorest in the world, they are never among the poor. In fact, they and their families are the richest in their country’s, living in luxury without caring about their poor citizens. Just like Ali Bongo, they must GO, if there is any hope of their countries getting better. So, who are they?
Number one: President Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo
Like Ali Bongo of Gabon, Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbe is another President who has turned Togo into a political dynasty. His family has ruled the country of 8 million people for more than 50 years and from the last election held in the country in 2020, Faure has shown no sign of ending the dynasty. And of all the governments currently in power in Africa, His government is under the greatest threat of being overthrown in a mass uprising which the military might just take advantage of.
The history of the Gnassingbe dynasty and its distasteful leadership over a half-century period is a calamity that hampered regional growth, leaving 72% of Togo’s rural population below the poverty line (on less than 2U$/day), making it one of the world’s poorest countries. With a population of slightly more than 8 million people, many people expected Togo to develop into a premier industrial nation due to the amount of natural resources available to the country. However, Togo, like most African countries, is one of the poorest in the world, despite its natural resources.
The beginning of the Gnassingbe dynasty started with Gnassingbe Eyadema, father of Faure Gnassingbe, a man whose dictatorial and greedy instinct as well as his thirst for power saw him murder hundreds of his political rivals. He was among the military officers who launched the first military coup in West Africa, which assassinated President Sylvanus Olympio in 1963. Shortly after that, in 1967, he conducted another coup as a Colonel, forcibly overthrowing President Nicolas Grunitzky and installing himself as President, a position he kept for 38 terrible years before his unexpected death in 2005 onboard a plane 250 kilometres south of Tunis, Tunisia.
During his 38-year rule, Eyadema pillaged his people’s money and resources and was said to be wealthy millions of dollars. After hijacking the military, he utilised the Togolese army to commit horrific atrocities against civilians and perceived political opponents. One such incident occurred on January 30, 1993, when sections of the military went on an 8-hour rampage in Lomé, firing indiscriminately and killing at least 12 people. This episode prompted more than 300,000 Togolese to evacuate Lomé for Benin, Ghana, or the country’s interior.
Recall that Eyadema had hijacked the military and so after his death in 2005, his son Faure was immediately installed as president with the backing of the military. Even though the coup was denounced throughout Africa and the world which led him to step down briefly, Faure was re-elected as President of the country in 2006 and since then he has continued to rule the country and show no sign of stepping down. Everytime the constitution is amended to allow him to continue to extend his rule. The last election held in 2020 which he won has extended his rule to 2030.
The impact of totalitarian leadership has resulted in the deterioration of social amenities, greater poverty, and the government’s incapacity to provide basic services to its people. While the Gnassingbe family and the country’s political elite lived in luxury, the common man lived in appalling poverty. This whole situation has led to countless protests and demonstrations by the people of Togo. The biggest so far was in 2017 when hundreds of thousands of men, women and children took to the street to demand an end to the Gnassingbe dynasty.
In a desperate attempt to retain power like his late father, President Faure unleashed the army and police on the populace. Security officers teargassed, clubbed, headbutted, assaulted, and brutalised the people leaving more than 20 people dead including a 10 year old boy with many more left injured during the protest. Not done, the President also cut off internet and social networking access to stop people from reporting the unrest in the country. He also forced foreign journalists out of the country.Although the situation has cooled down somewhat, the fall of Ali Bongo of Gabon has begun to instill hope in the hearts of people that it will be Faure Gnassingbe’s turn very soon. But is that conceivable when the military appears to be in the hands of the Gnassingbe family?
Number two: President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea
In July 2003, Equatorial Guinea’s sole state-run radio declared President Teodoro Obiang to be “the country’s God” with “all power over men and things.” It went on to say that the president was “in constant contact with the Almighty” and “could decide to kill without anyone calling him to account or going to hell.” This is a perfect description of the second longest serving President in the world who has ruled the country since 1979 after he seized power from his uncle Francisco Macias. Obiang’s first act as president was to have his uncle tried in a makeshift court, suspended in a metal cage above the crowd and sentenced to death 101 times.
President Teodoro’s four decades in power have been observed by many as one of the most corrupt, ethnocentric, and repressive regimes in the world. His government has relentlessly repressed civil society and political opposition. In fact, in all of Equatorial Guinea, the opposition holds only one seat in the 170-member bicameral parliament, and anyone suspected to be associated with the opposition is arrested and held many for months in prison. A good example is Joaquin Elo Ayeto who was arrested for making critical comments about government spending.
Obiang’s intolerance for criticism has also allowed him, his family, and other cronies to avoid prosecution for abusing their positions of power to create vast personal riches, despite multiple international investigations.
As with other African countries blessed with natural resources, Equatorial Guinea is blessed with oil discovered in the 1990s but unlike other African countries that are noted as the poorest countries in the world, surprisingly Equatorial Guinea has one of the highest per capita income in Africa. But, it’s only on paper because more than 70 percent of citizens still live below the poverty line, human rights are among the worst in the world, half of the population lacks access to safe water, and in 2015 more than half of school-aged children are out of school.
Meanwhile, although the people are suffering despite their wealth, the political elite lead lives of eye-popping luxury. A Swiss anti-money laundering lawsuit a few years ago uncovered two yachts reportedly owned by the Equatorial Guinean government but used for pleasure by the president’s eldest son, Teodorin Obiang. They are worth $250 million in total, which is more than the combined spending on health and education in 2011. Teodorin Obiang’s tendency for extravagant spending has gained the attention of foreign investigators, and in 2017 a French court convicted him in absentia of stealing more than 100 million Euros from the public budget and spent it in France on a $29m (£22m) mansion,18 luxury cars, artworks, jewellery and expensive designer fashions.Nonetheless, he was appointed to vice president just after a French judge declared that the case against him may proceed to trial.
President Obiang himself is not left out of the luxury. His personal purchases include a $35 million mansion in Malibu and a $36 million private jet – which reportedly boasts solid gold taps. In 2004, US Senate investigations revealed that Obiang had been funnelling enormous sums of state cash out of Equatorial Guinea into private bank accounts in the US and Switzerland. As a result of the investigation, Washington-based Riggs Bank was fined $25 million for willingly processing the proceeds of overseas crimes.
However, this had little effect on Obiang’s relations with the US. By 2006, Obiang was depositing funds in American bank accounts once more, this time with the direct cooperation of the US State Department. Independence Federal Savings Bank was approached by State Department officials and assured that ‘Equatorial Guinea was a friend of the United States and that the bank’s cooperation would be appreciated’. All this highlights the hypocrisy of the USA and the corruption of greedy African leaders. Over the past four decades, Obiang has maintained power by repressing opposition, allowing him to preserve the benefits of the country’s oil wealth to himself and his tight circle. With one son who is likely the successor as vice president and another son as mines minister, people are left wondering “Isn’t it time for him to GO?
Number three: President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast
In 2020, tensions erupted in Ivory Coast when President Alassane Ouattara announced that he would for a third term. The announcement came just five months after he announced his retirement and pledged to transfer power to a new generation”. To show that he was serious, he nominated his former prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, to replace him – a move that was seen as an attempt to maintain his influence through a close ally. However, Coulibaly mysteriously died of a heart attack and so did his decision to retire. Recall that prior to this time the President has been in power for 10 years and so angered by his decision the opposition leaders dismissed his decision as an unconstitutional “electoral coup” and called for an active boycott and a campaign of civil disobedience to halt or disrupt the election.
Three weeks before the October 31 election, 20,000 people filed into a stadium in Ivory Coast’s commercial city by early afternoon on Saturday, some carrying banners that said, “The people say no to an illegal third term.” During this tense period about 30 people died in Ivory Coast. Unfortunately, despite all their efforts the President was cleared for election and declared the winner. While the tension seems to have calmed down in Ivory Coast, the fact remains that Ouattara’s decision to run a third term is unconstitutional and nobody is doing anything about it, not even ECOWAS and the African Union. The President, often viewed as France’s puppet, has joined a long line of African dictators in pushing past a constitutionally enforced two-term limit, paving the way for a life presidency.
Ouattara believes that he is crucial to the well-being of his people and Ivory Coast and that no one among the 25 million Ivorians is better equipped for the task than him. And yet throughout his stay as President, there has not been any significant growth in Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast, the world’s leading producer of cocoa beans, should be one of Africa’s most successful countries. However, due to the life presidency and post-election violence, poverty levels remain high, with over half of Ivorians surviving on $1.22 per day. The average life expectancy is 54. Women account for more than half of the unemployed, and at least 12% of the population is food insecure. Ivory Coast is ranked 165 out of 189 nations in the 2019 UN Human Development Index, and 165 out of 189 in the gender inequality index. It is definitely high time for this President to Go.
Number four: President Paul Biya of Cameroon.
The spread of the coup across West Africa has led President Paul Biya to reshuffle Cameroon’s military position. The President is probably scared that the wave of coup might just hit Cameroon and unseat him from the Presidency that he doesn’t want to leave. The term President for life best describes Cameroon President Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for about 41 years since 1982.
His popularity skyrocketed in his initial months as President, owing to his pledges of democracy and clemency for political prisoners, particularly among young people. However, after his presidential guard attempted a coup in 1984, everything changed. Biya became more autocratic and brutal. Hundreds of people were killed as a result of repression, particularly in the north of Cameroon.In addition to controlling all the power in Cameroon, Paul Biya is popularly known as a President who rules his country from abroad. He travels extensively with his court” of ministers and assistants, particularly to Switzerland, where he stays at one of the most luxurious hotels in Geneva at the expense of the Cameroonian people. His Council of Ministers meets only 3-4 times a year and so decisions are made very slowly. This way of leadership has undoubtedly led the country to ruin.
Cameroon was the fourth largest cocoa producer in 1980, with a high growth rate (13% in 1981), and was classified as a middle-income country. However, since 1986, the country has become a country with many poor people, poor infrastructure, and a high level of corruption. Press freedom is essentially non-existent: state television is tightly controlled by the president’s men, and the few remaining media are frequently banned if they dare to criticise the administration. In 2007, Biya revised the constitution to remove the term limit. This led to an uprising and revolt by the people leading to hundreds of protesters killed and thousands arrested. The constitution was eventually revised and Biya continues to rule up till today. Even though Biya is very old and shows clear signs of failing health he shows no sign of stepping down any time soon. Now that he has reshuffled the military is there still hope that he can be removed from office? No one knows but Paul Biya must Go if Cameroon is to have any chance of growth.
What do you think about these Presidents for Life? Is there any hope of removing them from office? Do leave your thoughts in the comments section down below and don’t forget to like subscribe and share if you are new to our channel.