Africa has had its fair share of dictators who have wasted no time in clearing any obstacle in their path.
Here is a rundown of seven of Africa’s most ruthless dictators who have committed grave crimes against humanity from mass killings, corruption, oppression and subjugation of their people.
General Idi Amin of Uganda
General Idi Amin was born in 1925 in Koboko, Uganda and came into power through a military coup in 1971. His tyrant rule of eight years earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Uganda” because of his brutality. He used his killer squad to murder his opponents and their families. Due to the brutality of his regime, the United Kingdom broke off diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1977 and he declared he had defeated the British.
He went on to confer on himself the following titles “His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.”
According to Amnesty International, Idi Amin was responsible for the death of 500,000 people during his rule. He engaged in ethnic purging of the Acholi and Lango people throughout Uganda and in his own army, as he was constantly paranoid about being overthrown.
General Sani Abacha of Nigeria
General Sanni Abacha might have been in power for only five years but he left a mark on Nigeria. He ruled the nation with impunity and declared his government above the law. Of his notorious crimes, he is famous for the looting of about five billion dollars stolen funds, and the 1995 killing of political and environmental activist Ken Saro Wiwa.
He was believed to have participated fully in the July 1966 countercoup that lead to the death of the head of state, Major-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi and subsequently lead to civil war. His regime is also regarded as one of the most brutal in Nigeria’s history and he was considered “a man of few words and deadly actions.” In 2004 he was listed as the fourth most corrupt leader in history by Forbes.
Charles Taylor of Liberia
He was the president of Liberia for six years serving from 1997 to 2004 and his campaign slogan ran “He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him.” In 1989, Taylor led an uprising from Côte d’Ivoire into Liberia, beginning a seven-year civil war that killed 200,000 people. He was the cause of many Liberian civil war and deaths of innocent citizens.
He and his followers used rape as a weapon and took the innocence of many young girls. Taylor was accused of aiding rebels fighting in the Sierra Leone Civil War during the 1990s by trading weapons for diamonds. He recruited child soldiers and encouraged his followers to cut off the hands of people so they cannot rebel against him and together they caught of the limbs of several innocent people including babies and toddlers.
He lost power in Liberia following a second civil war, and he has been sentenced to fifty years in jail by an international war crimes court.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe
At 91, Robert Mugabe one of the oldest dictators Africa has had and he continues to rule with fear. He has been in power since 1980 and believes in democracy while oppressing the people of Zimbabwe. He is considered a racist as he has an aversion to white people and he uses his anti-west propaganda to commit most of his crimes.
He chased white people out of his country and took away their properties including their lands. He gave the lands to his immediate relatives and friends while the people continue to suffer. The west considers him one of Africa’s worst dictators.
Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir of Sudan
Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir has been the President of Sudan since 1993 and he is behind the death of 500,000 people murdered in Darfur between 2003-2009 in which babies and toddlers were not spared.
He planned to commit genocide against several ethnic groups such as the Massalit and Zaghawa groups. He sponsors terrorists groups with oil money and is currently declared a war criminal and a wanted man by the United Nations. He has been charged with several crimes against humanity and is considered one of Africa’s worst dictators ever.
Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea
Born on January 9, 1922, Ahmed Sekou Toure was elected the first President of Guinea and served from 1958 until his death. In 1960 he declared his Parti democratique de Guinee (PDG) the only legal party in the state and ruled as a dictator. He imprisoned or exiled his strongest opposition leaders. First seen as a messiah by the people, he quickly became a ruthless dictator.
Many people fled the country to avoid the death camps established during his rule. His presidency was based on Marxism and Toure directed waves of arrests, detentions, and some executions of known and suspected opposition leaders in Guinea. According to Amnesty International 4,000 persons on Guinea were detained for political reasons, with the fate of 2,900 unknown.
As a result of mass graves found in 2002, some 50,000 people are believed to have been killed under the regime of Touré in concentration camps such as Camp Boiro. Toure died on 26 March 1984 while undergoing cardiac treatment at Cleaveland Clinic in Ohio.
Jean-Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic
Jean Bedel Bokassa came into power following a coup that saw him deposing his cousin and taking control of the country on New Year’s Eve in 1965. The tenure of Jean Bedel Bokassa as a military ruler of Central African Republic from 1976 to 1979 saw him destroying the lives of innocent people as well as opposition leaders. He named himself president for life in 1972 and emperor in 1976. He declared a monarchy and his coronation ceremony is estimated to be around $20 million which was one third of the country’s budget for the year.
He spent lavishly while in power and in 1979, his troops massacred civilians who were rioting over food prices in Bangui, and he later killed 100 schoolchildren who refused to purchase expensive uniforms bearing his image. Bokassa allegedly beat children with his cane during the protest. The backlash from the incident forced Bokassa into exile and out of power. He was also a cannibal who ate the flesh of his enemies including the flesh of the opposition leaders he killed and he was referred to as “The Butcher of Bangui.”
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