Where strongmen rule

Sub-Saharan Africa has been home to some of the most everlasting strongmen in the world:

Angola

Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in power since 1979;

Equatorial Guinea

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, also since 1979;

Zimbabwe

Robert Mugabe, since 1980;

Sudan

Omar Hassan al-Bashir, since 1989;

Uganda

Yoweri Museveni; since 1986;

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Cameroon

Paul Biya, since 1982;

Republic of Congo

Sassou Nguesso president since 1997 – and previously from 1979 to 1992.

Ivory Coast

Laurent Gbagbo since 2000 – and refusing to leave since losing a November vote.

Rwanda

Paul Kagame ???

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Democratic gains

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However, other African countries became and stayed democratic when they were very poor:

– Botswana became independent in 1966. It has held free and fair democratic elections since independence.

– Mauritius became independent in 1962 It became a republic in 1992.

– Kenya crafted the first coalition government in Africa after violence greeted the lack of a clear winner in the 2007 election. The country went on last year to install a new Constitution and a Bill of Rights.

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