With the successful overthrow of Gambia’s YahyaJammeh, Africa is gradually seeing the last of its young leaders to come to power aged 30 or younger. These formerly youngest African leaders held power in their respective countries for decades. The continent has produced not only the world’s youngest leaders, but also the oldest, with the likes of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Nigeria’s Muhamadu Buhari, Ghana’s Nana Akufo Addo and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma in power.
Youngest African leaders ever
However, here are some of the youngest African leaders to ever rule before the age of 31:
Valentine Strasser (25, Sierra Leone)
Now, Strasser was living a fairly secluded life 25 days ago when he overthrew the government of Joseph Saidu Momoh in 1992. He was the youngest head of state in the world, only after Jean-Claude Duvalier from Haiti, who became president at the age of 19.
His successful coup as captain made him the third president of Sierra Leone. His cabinet consisted of lieutenants not even thirty years old.
Known as “The Boys,” Strasser and his team had little experience or grasp of reality, and lived a lavish lifestyle that cost them people’s trust.
Some members of his government were not happy with his style of government, so they ousted him in a 1996 coup led by his deputy, 32-year-old Maada Bio.
Michel Micombero (26, Burundi)
Micombero became the first President of Burundi. He began his rise to power when, at the age of 23, he became chief of the country’s military.
In 1966 there were two coups d’etat in the country, and the second, which took place in November 1966, abolished the monarchy and a republic was proclaimed in December 1966, with Colonel Micombero taking power as the first president.
His government dominated all institutions and set up a one-party system. After a severe crisis between 1972 and 1973 that killed more than a thousand people, Micombero introduced a new constitution that gave him another seven-year term.
However, in November 1976 he was ousted from power by Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, who led a successful coup d’état and brought himself to power.
Samuel Doe (28, Liberia)
In 1980, Samuel K. Doe, a 28-year-old sergeant, seized power in Liberia after a bloody coup. Doe and some soldiers he led assassinated President William R. Tolbert Jr. and ended the rule of black American settlers and their descendants (American-Liberian).
By 1990, Doe was Liberia’s first President of “Exclusive Indigenous Heritage”, had embroiled the country in an extremely devastating war that would end his life in an undignified manner. He was tortured on camera after being stripped in his underwear, as he had others before meeting his death.
Souley Abdoulaye (29, Niger Republic)
Following the resignation of Mahamadou Issoufou in 1994 , Souley Abdoulaye was hired to succeed him. Prior to his appointment, Abdoulaye was Minister for Trade, Transport and Tourism from 1993.
However, Abdoulaye did not stay in power for long, with a call for election due to a no-confidence vote in less than six months.
Joseph Kabila (30, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
After the assassination of his father Laurent-Désiré Kabila in 2001, Joseph Kabila became President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the age of 30.
In 2006 he contested the country’s presidential elections and won, and he got a second term in 2011. His term was due to expire in 2016, but he refused to organize an election, which led to a political crisis that left many in the country cost lives.
To ensure a peaceful transition, the country’s opposition parties have agreed to an agreement under which President Joseph Kabila will step down by the end of 2017.
David Dacko (30, Central African Republic)
Among the youngest African leaders ever, Dacko had quite an interesting history. In August 1960, at the age of 30, he became the first President of the Central African Republic. After the country gained independence in 1960, he was appointed interim president before later becoming president.
He had to work immediately to ensure a long-term seizure of power by filling key positions and changing the country’s constitution to allow for a one-party system and a seven-year term. This allowed him to win the 1964 elections, which he conducted alone.
By 1965 he had lost the faith of his people due to his allegiance to France and his desire to please the French government. This cost him his place when he was ousted by General Bokassa in a successful coup. It wasn’t long before he was appointed personal advisor to President Bokassa. He later snuck out of the country to France in the late 1970s when Bokassa was falling in popularity.
With the help of the French, who staged a 1979 coup against General Bokassa, Dacko returned to power. He took part in the March 1981 elections and won. However, he was seen as the puppet of France and was powerless in September of that year after a bloodless coup d’état by General André Kolingba.
Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (30, Burundi)
In November 1976, a coup led by a lieutenant colonel and deputy army chief of staff, Jean-Baptiste Bagaza in Burundi, ousted Michel Micombero. 30-year-old Bagaza became president. He competed in 1984 and won by a wide margin.
Part of the things that marked his administration was a severe infrastructural change in the country. He built roads, provided electricity, water and other things for his people. Another thing he was never forgotten for was the radical persecution of the Catholic Church in the country.
Mr Bagaza was overthrown in September 1987 while attending a conference of French-speaking nations in Quebec.
Marien Ngouabi (30, People’s Republic of the Congo)
The soldier Marien Ngouabi rose to power after he was arrested on July 29, 1968 by the President of the Republic of the Congo, Alphonse Massamba-Débat. On July 31 he was liberated by soldiers and on August 5 he founded and chaired the National Revolutionary Council (CNR).
The country’s prime minister became the acting head of state with the resignation of the president and on December 31, 1968, the CNR officially became the country’s supreme authority. With Ngouab as head of the CNR, he became the country’s president. He immediately renamed the country the People’s Republic of the Congo.
He ruled the country until March 18, 1977, when he was assassinated by a suspected suicide squad.
Yahya Jammeh
The second President of The Gambia, Jammeh, has ruled the country since 1994 after a military coup that ousted Sir. Dawda Jawara.
Jammeh was only 29 when he led the coup, overthrew Jawara’s government and became president. In September 1996 he was elected president of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, which he founded.
He was re-elected in 2001 and in 2006 there was an attempted coup against his government, but it failed. That same year he contested again and won, just like in 2011.
However, in 2016 he denied losing to opposition coalition party candidate Adama Barrow. While he initially accepted the result, he later rejected it on the grounds that it was marred by irregularities.
With the intervention of other African countries and the Ecowas sending soldiers to The Gambia, Jammeh was forced to leave power and go into exile after Barrow was sworn in in neighboring Senegal.