IS TIME RUNNING OUT FOR BLACK AFRICAN DICTATORS?

Dr. LEONARD MADU and Mr. REGINALD PIERRE

Following the agitations and overthrow of long time rulers in White Africa (North Africa or the Maghreb), many people have been wondering when the remaining long time dictators in Black Africa will face the music. Lets take a look at some of the long time dictators in Black Africa and what they are doing.

THEODORO OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO (Equatorial Guinea 33 years in power): In 1979, Theodoro Obiang Mbasogo came to power after overthrowing and executing his uncle, Francisco Marcias Nguema. Marcias Nguema was so homicidal that Equatorial Guinea was renamed "AUSCHWITZ". Marcias Nguema executed 1/4 of the population and sent another 1/4 into exile. Prison was not an option under Marcias Nguema's rule. Theodoro Obiang has continued with the same brutality, albeit in a more sophisticated way. Human rights does not exist in Equatorial Guinea under Obiang. Opponents are executed or sent to the famous Beach prison where they are fed rice mixed with sand. He has used his majority Fang ethnic group to suppress the others, particularly the Bubi ethnic group. Most significantly, he has won every election by the usual 99.9% of the vote. Almost 80% of the country's oil revenue disappear into his and his family's pocket. About 8 years ago, a senate investigation committee found that Obiang has about $500 million dollars secreted away at Riggs Bank in his name only. the money was seized. That incident contributed to the downfall of Riggs Bank. The French police recently seized 11 super cars allegedly belonging to his son at his residence in Paris. In california, the U.S. Justice dept has seized assetts worth over $70 million dollars belonging to his son Teodorin, including Michael Jackson's gloves.. The seizures were made under the justice department's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. A few years ago, Obiang donated a sum of $5 million dollars to UNESCO for a scientific prize to be named after him. However, after an international outcry, the donation was rejected. It is unbelievable that a country of  about 800,000 people, with an oil revenue of about $10 billion dallars a year and a per capita GDP of $37,900 will have a 30% unemployment rate.
Aware of what happened to his uncle, Obiang does not allow any members of Equatorial Guinea's armed forces near him.He is guarded round the clock by a contingent of Moroccan soldiers seconded to him by the late King Hassan of Moaocco.
Numerous attempts have been made to overthrow Obiang , but have so far been unsuccesful. After 32 years in power, one gets the feeling that Obiang's days are numbered.

JOSE EDUARDO DOS SANTOS (Angola 33 years in power): In 1979, when President Neto suddenly died in a Moscow hospital, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos became President at the age of 37. Trained as an engineer in Azabaijan, Dos Santos joined the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola(MPLA) then fighting against colonialism in Angola. At independence in 1975, he became one of President Neto's confidants and was appointed  foreign minister. As president, he presided over the Angolan civil war which devastated the country and ended only with the death of UNITA leader Jonas Malheiro Savimbi. Although the war was seen by outsiders as a conflict between the MPLA and UNITA, it was actually more of an ethnic struggle between the ruling minority Mbundu ethnic group based in Luanda(Dos Santos group) and the majority Ovimbundu ethnic group based in Huambo(Savimbi's ethnic group). He has used Angola's powerful army to influence regional events. He sent his army to support Laurent Kabila in overthrowing Mobutu Sese Seko and when Uganda and Rwanda wanted to overthrow Laurent Kabila, he sent Angolan forces to shore up Kabila's regime. When the Republic of the Congo erupted in civil war, he sent in Angolan troops to support the eventual winner, Denis Sassou Ngueso.This was in payment for Sasso Nguesso's support of the MPLA  during the colonial war against the Portuguese.
One of  major accomplishments of Dos Santos is transforming Angola's economy from a socialist economy to an economy determined by market forces.Though he is personnaly as austere as Agostinho Neto, his officials and his family members have been accused of momumental corruption and proflgacy. He has an enduring repution as a recluse who avoids public exposure. He is always heard from, but rarely seen.
Recently, there are signs that 70 years old Dos Santos  is thinking of stepping down. He just named  Manuel Vicente former head of SONANGOL (state owned oil company) as his number two in the ruling party.

ROBERT MUGABE (ZIMBABWE 32 YEARS IN POWER): Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980 after a free and fair election and has stayed on. He has ststematically gotten rid of all opposition, and has maintained power through fraudulent elections. When he fell out with Joshua Nkomo, he turned against Nkomo's Ndebele ethnic group with ferocity and suppressed them. A member of the majority Shona ethnic group, Mugabe has masterfully used ethnic and racial card to drum up support whenever he is in trouble. He accuses his White opponents of trying to regain power and suppress Blacks, then turns around and accuses his Black opponents of being "White lovers". Opposition leaders like Morgan Tsvengirai have been arrested, beaten up and imprisoned. During the recent war in the Congo, he sent in Zimbabwean troops to help shore up Kabila's regime. However, observers note that Zimbabwean troops were not in the Congo just to support Kabila, but to loot Congo's immense natural resources. An intellectual, Mugabe has eight (8) college degrees and is proponent of literacy education for all Zimbabweans. Currently, Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate in Black Africa. However, Gays and Lesbians are not welcome in Zimbabwe. To drive that point home,the first President of Zimbabwe, Rev Cannan Banana was charged with homosexualty and convicted of 11 counts of sodomy. Though Mugabe is personnaly ascetic and austere, his wife and cronies have been accused of looting the country blind. At 88 years old, one wonders why good old Bob wants to maintain a tight grip on power, rather than relinguish it to a younger generation.  

PAUL BIYA (CAMEROON 30 Years in power): In 1982, when Ahmadu Ahidjo stepped down from power, he handpicked Paul Biya to succeed him. Though Ahidjo voluntarily stepped down from the Presidency, he still  kept control of the party machinery. However, Biya wanted control over the party. As a result both men fell out, resulting in a bloody attempted coup in 1984 to overthrow Biya. Biya accused Ahidjo of complicity in the coup and sentenced him to death in absentia. Though Biya's rule is less repressive than other African leaders, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions of opponents and fraudulent elections have been the norm, rather than the exception. Though he can be credited for keeping the country peaceful, his name and that of his glamorous wife (Chantal), has become a byword for corruption. In 2008, he had the constitution changed to grant him immunity from prosecution after he leaves office. He is being investigated by the French government for corruption and looting the Cameroonian treasury. Aloof and reclusive, the 79 years old Biya has no designated successor and no hint of stepping down anytime soon.

YOWERI MUSEVENI (UGANDA 26 years in power): Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986 after overthrowing the military junta of General Tito Okello. When he came to power, he was hailed as a member of a new generation of
African leaders. He set out to reconstruct and reconcile a country torn apart  by years of brutal dictatorships by Milton Obote and Idi Amin. Under him, Uganda returned to the favor of Western donors. He has been very effective in tackling
the HIV/AIDS pandemic and restored a measure of civility in the country's political discourse. He sent Ugandan troops to support Laurent Kabila in the Congo and later turned on him. He  organized the Tutsi exiles in Uganda and sent them across the border to reclain their country. Though he has been successful in Southern Uganda, he has found it difficult to completely pacify the northern part of the country dominated by the Acholi and Langi ethnic groups. Joseph Kony's lord Resistance Army started as an Acholi resistance against the rule of Museveni.  A Banyankole of Hima extraction (the Himas are related to the Tutsis), Museveni is distrusted by the northerners. He has been a strong supporter of  the SPLA in South Sudan and was the last leader to see John Garang alive. A benevolent dictator, Museveni has won several elections and re-elections, though his opponents were disenfranchised (the most prominent is Dr. Besigye). To his credit, he has brought peace and tranquility to the country. There are rumours that Museveni wants his wife to succeed him as President, but that would be courting disaster. However, it is interesting that the 68 years old Museveni is at least thinking of stepping down.

KING MSWATI 111 (SWAZILAND 26 YEARS IN POWER): If there is any leader in Africa today who epitomizes profligacy and insensitivity to his people, it is King Mswati 111 of Swaziland. Born in 1968, he assumed the throne in 1986 after the death of his father, King Sobhuza 11. He was 18 years old when he assumed the throne. His father reigned for 83 years (the longest recorded reign of any monarch in world history), had 70 wives and 210 children. King Sobhuza was known for his for his frugality, austerity and sensitivity to his subjects (he wore blankets and never wore shoes in his life). Not so with Mswati. He currently has 14 wives and 24 children. All the wives have their own Palaces built and maintained at public expense. Recently one of the wives fled to South Africa and another was found in a hotel having sex with the King's best friend and Minister of Justice. Few years ago, he bought a car costing $500,000 and recently bought a plane to the utter consternation of donor countries. He is also responsible for the financial well being of his over 200 brothers and sisters-all at public expense. This is in a poor country of less than a million people, with the highest hiv/aids rate in the world. Not only that, 80% of the population receive food aid from the United Nations World Food Program. Those who protest are thrown in jail or run out of the country. The country is completely broke, with starvation reaching alarming levels. South Africa voluntered to bail the country out, on the condition that democracy will be established. But Mswati will not here of it. He will rather see his people starve, than establish a representative and accountable govt. There has been no parliament in the country since his father disbanded it in 1973, and declared a state of emergency. I had a private audience with Mswati a few years ago, and can say that he is charming, likeable, differential to elders, a good listener and a good conversationalist. But his method of governance is a different matter altogether.  
Mswati seems increasingly like a throwback to a medieval monarch, a profligate potentate trying to keep the modern world at bay. He clings to antiquated traditions that promote promiscuity in a land ripped apart by HIV/AIDS where elderly Princes take child brides under the cloak of culture. With agitations against his regime increasing in ferocity, one wonders what the future holds for the 44 years old Mswati.

BLAISE COMPAORE (BURKINA FASO 25 years in power): There is no conflict in West Africa that Blaise Compaore has no knowledge of. Having murdered his best friend Thomas Sankara in a bloody coup in 1987, he and Charles Taylor with the support of Late Muammar Gaddafi unleashed a reign of terror in West Africa. Although personally quite and reserved, Compaore is as ruthless as they come. He plotted and executed Thomas Sankara with the assistance of Major Abubakar Lingani and Major Henri Zongo. Two years later, he fell out with both of them and had them executed. Journalists who write unfavorable stories about his regime are killed. The most famous jornal;ist killed for ctiticizing him is  Norbert Zongo. His killing is still reverberating in Burkina Faso.As with most African leaders, he has used his majority Mossi ethnic group to suppress the others. During the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola and Ivory Coast, Compaore was the conduit through the various rebel groups received arms, courtesy of Muammar Gaddafi. He received diamonds from Savimbi and the RUF and timber from Charles Taylor. Recently, Compaore has been trying to shake off his bad boy image and transform himself into a Statesman. In furtherance of this objective, he has helped to mediate several regional conflicts. However, the fall of Muammar Gaddafi has created a huge financial problem for Blaise Compaore. He has been able to stay in power, because Gaddafi's millions has enabled him to keep his most important constituency happy-the Army. Last year his Presidential Guard and other elements of the Burkinabe military revolted. Civilians also joined in the unrest. Though  he was able to put down the unrest, he quitely and wisely moved out of the Presidential palace. With the murder of Thomas Sankara still hanging over his neck, and the disappearance of Gaddafi's millions, one wonders if the days of the 61 years old "beautiful Blaise" (as he is fondly called by the Burkinabe) is beginning to turn ugly.  


ANOTHER FEMALE PRESIDENT TAKES POWER IN AFRICA: Ms. Joyce Banda has become the new President of Malawi following the sudden death of President Bingu Mutharika. She was vice president under Mr. Mutharika, but was expelled from the party by Mr. Mutharika, after she fell out with him. Mr. Mutharika wanted his brother to succeed him, instead of Ms. Banda. Ms. Banda becomes the third woman to be President in Africa. The first female President in Africa is Ms. Ruth Perry of Liberia (she was appointed not elected). Ms. Perry was in Nashville in 1998 to speak at the PanAfrica Conference. Ms. Banda joins Ms. Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia as the two current female Presidents in Africa. .