Nairobi News

Africa is home to not only the oldest Presidents in the world, but leaders that have been at the helm for the longest period.

Here are some of them.

1. Paul Biya – Born in 1933, President Biya, 89, has ruled  Cameroon since 1982.

He is second in the list of the longest serving Presidents in Africa, and the oldest Head of State in the world.

Biya is infamous for changing the law so as to extend his rule beyond the initially required two terms.

He’s been at the helm for four decades and is expected to remain in charge until 2025 at the very least when his term of office expires.

2. Hage Gottfried Geingob – He was elected in 2014 and is Namibia’s third President.

The 81-year-old has been in power for eight years. The Nambian constitution stipulates that a president’s term limit is five years and is only renewable once.

Months after winning the 2014 election, Geingob married Monica Kalondo having divorced his other wife Loini Kandume in 2006.

Ms Kandume was married after President Geingob divorced Priscilla Charlene Cash, a New York City native in 1967.

3. Alassane Dramane Ouattara – He assumed office as Ivory Coast’s fifth President in 2010, and has been at the helm for 12 years.

He is aged 80, and appears to have benefitted from a loophole in the law to rule despite the constitution stipulating a presidential candidate should be aged between 35 and 70.

4. Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo – Born in 1942, President Mbasogo has been in power since 1979.

Marking his 43rd year as the Head of State, Mbasogo, 80, is the longest-serving president of any country ever and the second-longest consecutively-serving current non-royal national leader in the world.

The country voted in a referendum in 2011 handing President Mbasogo executive powers to not only hand-pick his successor, but also retain significant political influence even after he leaves office.

He is seeking a seventh term in the November’s 2022 polls.

5. Emmerson Mnangagwa – The Zimbabwe President who ascended to power in 2017 is aged 80 . He will likely be around for sometime considering the country’s constitution allows him to serve for two-five year terms.

A longtime ally of the late President Robert Mugabe, Mnangagwa held a series of cabinet portfolios and was Mugabe’s vice president till November 2017. He’s been married twice and has nine children and more than a dozen grandchildren.

6. Muhammadu Buhari – Nigeria’s President. Born in 1942, President Buhari, 80, has been the Nigeria’s Head of State since 2015.

Having served for 7 years, Buhari assured Nigerians that he would not alter the constitution so as to extend his term limit.

With the Nigerian law only allowing a maximum two terms of four years each for presidents, vice presidents, governors and deputy governors, President Buhari said he would make way for a new leader in what would be another peaceful transfer of power. Nigeria is expected to hold its general election in 2023.

7. Nana Akufo-Addo – Ghana’s President. Having assumed office in 2017 though elections were held in 2016, President Akufo-Addo first ran for presidency in 2008 and 2012 but lost.

With elections in Ghana being held after four years, a president is limited to only two terms. Born in 1944, President Akufo-Addo, 78, was re-elected for his second term which will end on 6th January 2025.

8. Yoweri Museveni. Uganda’s President. The 78-year-old  is the longest serving East Africa’s president having served for 36 years having twice benefited from a change in constitution.

Ugandan legislators in 2005, removed the term limits allowing President Museveni to stay in office and in 2017, the parliamentarians again voted overwhelmingly to scrap an age limit of 75 years for presidential candidates, allowing Museveni to be on the ballot for yet another time.

9. Abdelmadjid Tebboune – Algeria’s President. Born in 1945, President Tebboune ascended to power in 2019. The 76-year-old was hospitalized in Germany for two months following reported cases of covid-19 among his staff.

In the recent constitutional reforms, Algerians voted to limit the president to two-five year terms in office.

10. Ismail Omar Guelleh – Djibouti’s President. Having assumed office since 1999, President Guelleh, 74 has ruled Djibouti for 23 years making him one of the longest serving rulers in Africa. He was the preferred candidate by his uncle to rule.

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