The Taste of Power

There’s a saying “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This seems to be the case with the ruling and political class. Power (or the taste of power) has turned people who seemed to be “saviors or men of the people” to eventual dictators who never wanted to relinquish their hold on power at the expense of their citizens.

Although many countries have fixed terms for how long a leader can stay in power, some have leaders who have ruled for decades. An election is currently underway in Uganda where a prominent musician Bobi Wine (one of the many opposition candidates) is running against Museveni who’s been in power for 34 years. As long as that sounds, he’s not the longest ruling non-royal leader still alive. At the top of the list is Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea who’s been in power for 41. A close second is Paul Biya of Cameroon, the oldest leader in Africa who’s been president for 38 years. This excludes his 7 years as prime minister before becoming president. BBC Africa referred to him as Cameroon’s “absentee president” as he’s rumored to spend most of his time abroad in a Swiss Hotel in Geneva.

This “longevity in power” trait however seems to be very common in Africa. 10 of the top 15, 6 of the top 10 and 4 of the top 5 longest ruling heads of state are from Africa. One would have assumed this “continuity” in government would have translated to remarkable economic growth or fortunes however that’s not the case with most of these countries.

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