African Strongmen Driven Off Power Since 2010

On Thursday, President Hassan Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan was forced out of power after being at the helm for 30 years. Thousands of protesters took to the streets to push for his resignation forcing him to call it quits on Thursday.

Sudan has now been taken over by the army which has imposed a state of the emergency for three months, saying it will observe a political transition within two years. Omar Al-Bashir, according to the army has been “kept in a safe place”. The country’s constitution has been canceled and protesters are still on the streets.

The removal from power of Bashir came weeks after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria was forced to resign following months of protests. The old, ailing, wheelchair-bound and the paralyzed president had announced to run for a fifth term, something that infuriated his people.

Robert Mugabe, the 93-year-old then, now 95, commonly known as Uncle Bob, and who had promised to rule Zimbabwe for 100 years was removed from power by the army. Elections were held and the then Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa became President, though in a disputed election. He was removed in 2017.

In 2010, President Mamadou Tandja of Niger was overthrown by the military after he changed the constitution to allow himself to remain in power beyond two terms after being president since 1999.

The year 2011 goes down in history for claiming four presidents in what was referred to as the Arab uprising. It started in Tunisia where Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years was chased out of power. The wind then blew to Egypt where Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for 30 years was removed from office. The wind of change the went to Ivory Coast where Laurent Gbagbo was removed from office and then, Libya, the home of Muammar Gaddafi, who had been in power for 42 years, was removed and killed.

The year 2012 claimed two dictators; President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali who had been in power for 22 years and President Raimundo Pereira of Guinea Bissau.

In 2013, Genera Francis Bozize of the Central African Republic was removed from power after 10 years. During the same year, Mohamed Morsi, the man who had succeeded Hosni Mubarak, was removed from power after only a year.

In 2014, President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso was removed from power after being in power for 27 years. 2017 saw strongman Yahya Jammeh fleeing the country, handing over power to Adama Barrow.