This is the mentality of the people who wish to supress any other voice on this board, check out there foul and violent mentality out for yourself (its right in there own post, and do not be fooled by those who are useing my screen name to perpetuate their nonsense).
Mfundishi
PILLAGE AND PLUNDER:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF AFRICAN DICTATORS
For Further Information see links page and home page.
A
ABACHA, Sani (1944 - 199
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/109297.stm.
Abacha seized power in Nigeria via a military coup in 1993. He immediately annulled the results of presidential elections which had been won by the opposition and began to consolidate his position by purging sections of the army that he did not trust. In 1995, Abacha had nine of his most vocal political opponents executed, an action which caused Nigeria to be suspended from the British Commonwealth. Despite continual promises to restore civilian rule, Abacha remained in office until his death in1998. Since his death it has been revealed that Abacha and his family had helped themselves to around US $3 Billion from Nigeria's treasury. An out of court settlement has paved the way for most of the money to be returned, but the family will be able to keep US $100 Million.
AFEWERKI, Issayas (1945 - )
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...70813.stm.
Afewerki became president of Eritrea upon that country's achievement of independence from Ethiopia in 1991. In recent times his ruling party has split and Afewerki's faction has begun to brutally repress its opponents. In 2001, Afewerki shut down all of Eritrea's free media and arrested eleven former high ranking officials from his own government. According to one web site, Afewerki has cracked down on dissidents at Eritrea's only university by arresting the student union leader, who has since 'disappeared'. Over 2000 other students have had their compulsory national army service 'commuted' to service in 'community work camps', where conditions are terrible and deaths are not uncommon. According to Reporters Sans Frontiers, Eritrea is the only country in Africa without any private media.
AL BASHIR, Omar (1947 - )
Photo reproduced from, news.awse.com/28-Jul-2002...12875.htm.
Al Bashir seized power in Sudan in a military coup against a democratically elected government in 1989. Since his ascendancy, Amnesty International claims some 1 million people have been killed in the Sudanese civil war, whilst another 9 million have either fled the country or been subjected to 'internal exile', which basically means 'stay inside or be shot'. Al Bashir has also dissolved Sudan's parliament, banned political parties and closed down all independent media outlets. He has imposed a strict version of Islamic law (shariah) and used it to brutally repress the predominantly non-muslim people of Southern Sudan.
AMIN, Idi (1925 - )
Photo reproduced from, www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.htm.
Idi Amin was president of Uganda from 1971 until 1979. A former boxer, Amin rose through the ranks of the Army in the 1960's, and seized power in a military coup against Uganda's first president, Milton Obote. His reign was marked by brutal repression, torture and other violence. 'Bodies were found with genitals, noses, livers, and eyes missing. Prison camps began filling up with common citizens, where prisoners forced to bludgeon each other to death with sledgehammers'. Most sources suggest that around 300,000 people were killed by Amin's forces. Another 60,000 Kenyans of Asian descent were expelled from the country. In 1976, Amin declared himself president for life. Amin's Uganda was highly militarized, with 'Military tribunals placed above the system of civil law, soldiers appointed to top government posts, and civilian cabinet ministers informed that they will be subject to military discipline'. Citing 'ancient tribal ownership, Amin invaded Tanzania in 1978, in an apparent attempt to deflect world attention away from Uganda's impending economic collapse. This move failed, since Amins troops were routed by the Tanzanians, who forced him to flee to Saudi Arabia, where he still lives today, reportedly with the aid of a monthly payment of US $1,400 per month from Saudi officials. Amin left Uganda with an estimated debt of US $250 Million. Amin has been proclaimed as 'Africa's Adolph Hitler'.
FURTHER READING
Kyemba, H, A State of Blood: the inside story of Idi Amin, Ace Books, New York, 1977.
B
BARRE, Said Mohamed (1919 - 1995)
Picture reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...47697.stm.
Barre seized power in Somalia in a military coup in 1969 and remained its leader until 1991. Barre played Somalia's clans off against each other in a 'divide and rule ' campaign and in particular he singled out the Majerteen tribe. Mohamoud M. Afrah claims that Barres forces killed thousands of innocent civilians and their livestock and poisoned their water supplies. Africa watch suggest that between 50,000 and 60,000 people were killed in the years between 1988 and 1990 alone. After his overthrow in 1991, Barre fled to Nigeria. The fact that Barre was unable to consolidate central authority in the face of constant civil war makes him a second rate despot.
FURTHER READING
Mazurui, A, The blood of experience: the failed state and political collapse in Africa, in World Policy Journal, Vol. 12, N0. 1, Spring 1995, pp. 28-35.
BIYA, Paul (1933 - )
Photo reproduced from, www.essochad.com/Chad/Lib...had6.html.
Biya was elected prime minister of Cameroon in 1975 and president in 1982. He has been re-elected four times since, although the legitimacy of those elections is questionable. According to Ngini, after a failed coup in 1984, Biyas attention became turned inwards and almost exclusively towards his personal political survival and that of his regime. Biya has used special powers of presidential decree to appropriate vast sums from the profits of state enterprises. In 1997, a French newspaper estimated Bira's personal fortune at just under half a Billion French Francs, and the rorts have continued unabated until the present. Biya owns his own golf course, as well as mansions in Germany and France.
BOKASSA, Jean-Bedel (1921 - 1996)
Photo reproduced from, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je...l_Bokassa.
Jean-Bedel Bokassa was president of the Central African Republic from 1966 until 1979. Bokassa had served in the colonial French army and helped establish the new army of the independent C.A.R. He seized power in a military coup against president David Dracko in 1966 and almost immediately abolished the countrys constitution. In 1972 he declared himself president for life, and in 1976 he adopted the title of 'emperor' after a US $30 Million coronation ceremony. Whilst enriching himself to the tune of US $125 Million, Bokassa brutalised and exploited his people with apparent flair. His 'hands on' approach led Bokassa to be personally involved in atrocities including torture, executions and even cannibalism. Bokassa was ousted by a French backed coup in 1979, but arrogantly returned in 1986, only to be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. This sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and yet Bokassa was released in 1993. As if he wasnt busy enough, Bokassa apparently found time to have seventeen wives and around fifty children! He died of a heart attack in 1996.
D
DOE, Samuel (1950 1990)
Photo reproduced from, liberiaorbit.org/lonewsrepeat.htm.
Doe seized power in Liberia in a military coup in 1980. His rule was marked by cronyism and brutal repression of political opponents. Doe favoured his own Krahn tribe above all others, which resulted in violent uprisings. Doe banned political parties in Liberia until 1984. The next year elections were held, however they were rigged and Doe remained in power until he was overthrown and executed in an uprising led by Charles Taylor in 1990. Doe's death was rather gruesome, in that he was slowly cut to pieces and forced to eat his own ears as he bled to death. Video footage of this event apparently exists. Lovely!
E
EYADEMA, Gnassingbe (1937 - )
Photo reproduced from, www.rsf.org/article.php3?...icle=1081.
Eyadema is Africa's longest serving despot, having orchestrated Africa's first military coup in Togo in 1963 and then assuming the presidency in 1967. At that time Eyadema banned all political parties and political activity, a situation that was officially reversed in 1992 when a new constitution was introduced and elections were held. Amid allegations of widespread vote rigging, Eyadema retained the presidency with 96% of the vote. The 1992 constitution had only allowed individuals to serve two terms as president, however Eyadema had this clause reversed in 2002 and plans to stand again in elections to be held in June 2003.
HABRE, Hissene (? - )
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...10260.stm.
Habre was president of Chad from 1982 until 1990. According to the Human Rights Watch group, there was widespread genocide against ethnic minorities during Habres rule. His personally directed secret political police are also believed to have assassinated tens of thousands of political opponents. Systematic use of torture was also common during Habrea reign. Habre is now in exile in Senegal where he faces deportation to Belgium to face charges of crimes against humanity.
K
KABILA, Laurent (1939 - 2001)
Photo reproduced from, www.geocities.com/cbssecm...cers.html.
Kabila became president of the Democratic Republic of Congo when he led forces that overthrew Joseph Mobutu in 1997. Although he does not rank in the same league as Mobutu as a dictator, Kabilas four year rule coincided with the deaths of around 3.3 Million people in the DRC. When he came to power Kabila promised institute political reforms and intra-Congolese dialogue, but he actually ended up removing ministers from his initial cabinet who were from different tribes than his own, and placed other political opponents into internal exile. Kabila was shot by one of his own bodyguards in 2001. Despite early promises to the contrary, Kabila never faced his people in any kind of popular election during his four year rule.
FURTHER READING
Hochschild, A, King Leopolds Ghost, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1998.
Connell, D, and Smyth, F, Africas New Bloc, in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 2, March-April 1998, pp. 80-94.
M
MENGISTU, Haile Mariam (1937 - )
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...35828.stm.
Mengistu assumed the presidency of Ethiopia in a military coup which ousted Haile Selassie in 1974. His links with the Russians and his ruthless nature earned him the tag 'the red terror'. Using so-called 'neighbourhood commitees', Mengistu had as many as 1.5 Million of his own people executed in just four years between 1975 and 1979. This ranks among the top ten genocides of the twentieth century. Those that survived the genocide had a good chance of starving, since Mengistus regime stole international food aid during Ethiopias famine during the mid 1980s and distributed it among themselves. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe, where he now has permanent residence, after being ousted in 1991. The Ethiopean government has been unsuccessfully trying for years to get Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe to extradite Mengistu so he can be tried for crimes against humanity.
FURTHER READING
Rubin, B, Modern Dictators, McGraw Hill, New York, 1987. Especially chapter seven.
MOBUTU, Joseph (1930 - 199
Photo reproduced from, www.terra.es/personal2/mo...gokin.htm.
Joseph Mobutu, also known as Mobutu Sese Seko, was President of the former Belgian Congo from 1965 until 1997. Mobutu seized power in a CIA backed military and named himself head of state, head of government, commander in chief of the armed forces, and head of the only political party allowed, the Popular Movement of the Revolution. It has been said that the only thing that Mobutu gave his country was a new name - Zaire, in 1971. In return, Mobutu took all that there was to take. In fact, some observers have branded Mobutu's regime a 'kleptocracy', since he made no distinction between state assets and his own. At its peak, Mobutu's personal fortune was estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be more than US $4 Billion. After his death, a search of one of Mobutu's many palaces uncovered a wine collection worth US $2.3 Million. Meanwhile, the people of the Congo remained among the poorest in the world and indeed the country was declared insolvent by the World Bank, which closed its Kinshasa office in 1995. This is despite the fact that the Congo is potentially one of the wealthiest nations in Africa, with vast reserves of Gold, Copper, Cobalt, Rubber and Ivory. Mobutu was overthrown by forces backed by the Rwandan army in 1997, and died in exile in Togo the following year. The search for his assets continues.
FURTHER READING
Hochschild, A, King Leopolds Ghost, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1998.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, G, The Congo From Leopold to Kabila, Zed Books, London, 2002. Especially chapter five.
Mfundishi
PILLAGE AND PLUNDER:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF AFRICAN DICTATORS
For Further Information see links page and home page.
A
ABACHA, Sani (1944 - 199
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/109297.stm.
Abacha seized power in Nigeria via a military coup in 1993. He immediately annulled the results of presidential elections which had been won by the opposition and began to consolidate his position by purging sections of the army that he did not trust. In 1995, Abacha had nine of his most vocal political opponents executed, an action which caused Nigeria to be suspended from the British Commonwealth. Despite continual promises to restore civilian rule, Abacha remained in office until his death in1998. Since his death it has been revealed that Abacha and his family had helped themselves to around US $3 Billion from Nigeria's treasury. An out of court settlement has paved the way for most of the money to be returned, but the family will be able to keep US $100 Million.
AFEWERKI, Issayas (1945 - )
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...70813.stm.
Afewerki became president of Eritrea upon that country's achievement of independence from Ethiopia in 1991. In recent times his ruling party has split and Afewerki's faction has begun to brutally repress its opponents. In 2001, Afewerki shut down all of Eritrea's free media and arrested eleven former high ranking officials from his own government. According to one web site, Afewerki has cracked down on dissidents at Eritrea's only university by arresting the student union leader, who has since 'disappeared'. Over 2000 other students have had their compulsory national army service 'commuted' to service in 'community work camps', where conditions are terrible and deaths are not uncommon. According to Reporters Sans Frontiers, Eritrea is the only country in Africa without any private media.
AL BASHIR, Omar (1947 - )
Photo reproduced from, news.awse.com/28-Jul-2002...12875.htm.
Al Bashir seized power in Sudan in a military coup against a democratically elected government in 1989. Since his ascendancy, Amnesty International claims some 1 million people have been killed in the Sudanese civil war, whilst another 9 million have either fled the country or been subjected to 'internal exile', which basically means 'stay inside or be shot'. Al Bashir has also dissolved Sudan's parliament, banned political parties and closed down all independent media outlets. He has imposed a strict version of Islamic law (shariah) and used it to brutally repress the predominantly non-muslim people of Southern Sudan.
AMIN, Idi (1925 - )
Photo reproduced from, www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.htm.
Idi Amin was president of Uganda from 1971 until 1979. A former boxer, Amin rose through the ranks of the Army in the 1960's, and seized power in a military coup against Uganda's first president, Milton Obote. His reign was marked by brutal repression, torture and other violence. 'Bodies were found with genitals, noses, livers, and eyes missing. Prison camps began filling up with common citizens, where prisoners forced to bludgeon each other to death with sledgehammers'. Most sources suggest that around 300,000 people were killed by Amin's forces. Another 60,000 Kenyans of Asian descent were expelled from the country. In 1976, Amin declared himself president for life. Amin's Uganda was highly militarized, with 'Military tribunals placed above the system of civil law, soldiers appointed to top government posts, and civilian cabinet ministers informed that they will be subject to military discipline'. Citing 'ancient tribal ownership, Amin invaded Tanzania in 1978, in an apparent attempt to deflect world attention away from Uganda's impending economic collapse. This move failed, since Amins troops were routed by the Tanzanians, who forced him to flee to Saudi Arabia, where he still lives today, reportedly with the aid of a monthly payment of US $1,400 per month from Saudi officials. Amin left Uganda with an estimated debt of US $250 Million. Amin has been proclaimed as 'Africa's Adolph Hitler'.
FURTHER READING
Kyemba, H, A State of Blood: the inside story of Idi Amin, Ace Books, New York, 1977.
B
BARRE, Said Mohamed (1919 - 1995)
Picture reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...47697.stm.
Barre seized power in Somalia in a military coup in 1969 and remained its leader until 1991. Barre played Somalia's clans off against each other in a 'divide and rule ' campaign and in particular he singled out the Majerteen tribe. Mohamoud M. Afrah claims that Barres forces killed thousands of innocent civilians and their livestock and poisoned their water supplies. Africa watch suggest that between 50,000 and 60,000 people were killed in the years between 1988 and 1990 alone. After his overthrow in 1991, Barre fled to Nigeria. The fact that Barre was unable to consolidate central authority in the face of constant civil war makes him a second rate despot.
FURTHER READING
Mazurui, A, The blood of experience: the failed state and political collapse in Africa, in World Policy Journal, Vol. 12, N0. 1, Spring 1995, pp. 28-35.
BIYA, Paul (1933 - )
Photo reproduced from, www.essochad.com/Chad/Lib...had6.html.
Biya was elected prime minister of Cameroon in 1975 and president in 1982. He has been re-elected four times since, although the legitimacy of those elections is questionable. According to Ngini, after a failed coup in 1984, Biyas attention became turned inwards and almost exclusively towards his personal political survival and that of his regime. Biya has used special powers of presidential decree to appropriate vast sums from the profits of state enterprises. In 1997, a French newspaper estimated Bira's personal fortune at just under half a Billion French Francs, and the rorts have continued unabated until the present. Biya owns his own golf course, as well as mansions in Germany and France.
BOKASSA, Jean-Bedel (1921 - 1996)
Photo reproduced from, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je...l_Bokassa.
Jean-Bedel Bokassa was president of the Central African Republic from 1966 until 1979. Bokassa had served in the colonial French army and helped establish the new army of the independent C.A.R. He seized power in a military coup against president David Dracko in 1966 and almost immediately abolished the countrys constitution. In 1972 he declared himself president for life, and in 1976 he adopted the title of 'emperor' after a US $30 Million coronation ceremony. Whilst enriching himself to the tune of US $125 Million, Bokassa brutalised and exploited his people with apparent flair. His 'hands on' approach led Bokassa to be personally involved in atrocities including torture, executions and even cannibalism. Bokassa was ousted by a French backed coup in 1979, but arrogantly returned in 1986, only to be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. This sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and yet Bokassa was released in 1993. As if he wasnt busy enough, Bokassa apparently found time to have seventeen wives and around fifty children! He died of a heart attack in 1996.
D
DOE, Samuel (1950 1990)
Photo reproduced from, liberiaorbit.org/lonewsrepeat.htm.
Doe seized power in Liberia in a military coup in 1980. His rule was marked by cronyism and brutal repression of political opponents. Doe favoured his own Krahn tribe above all others, which resulted in violent uprisings. Doe banned political parties in Liberia until 1984. The next year elections were held, however they were rigged and Doe remained in power until he was overthrown and executed in an uprising led by Charles Taylor in 1990. Doe's death was rather gruesome, in that he was slowly cut to pieces and forced to eat his own ears as he bled to death. Video footage of this event apparently exists. Lovely!
E
EYADEMA, Gnassingbe (1937 - )
Photo reproduced from, www.rsf.org/article.php3?...icle=1081.
Eyadema is Africa's longest serving despot, having orchestrated Africa's first military coup in Togo in 1963 and then assuming the presidency in 1967. At that time Eyadema banned all political parties and political activity, a situation that was officially reversed in 1992 when a new constitution was introduced and elections were held. Amid allegations of widespread vote rigging, Eyadema retained the presidency with 96% of the vote. The 1992 constitution had only allowed individuals to serve two terms as president, however Eyadema had this clause reversed in 2002 and plans to stand again in elections to be held in June 2003.
HABRE, Hissene (? - )
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...10260.stm.
Habre was president of Chad from 1982 until 1990. According to the Human Rights Watch group, there was widespread genocide against ethnic minorities during Habres rule. His personally directed secret political police are also believed to have assassinated tens of thousands of political opponents. Systematic use of torture was also common during Habrea reign. Habre is now in exile in Senegal where he faces deportation to Belgium to face charges of crimes against humanity.
K
KABILA, Laurent (1939 - 2001)
Photo reproduced from, www.geocities.com/cbssecm...cers.html.
Kabila became president of the Democratic Republic of Congo when he led forces that overthrew Joseph Mobutu in 1997. Although he does not rank in the same league as Mobutu as a dictator, Kabilas four year rule coincided with the deaths of around 3.3 Million people in the DRC. When he came to power Kabila promised institute political reforms and intra-Congolese dialogue, but he actually ended up removing ministers from his initial cabinet who were from different tribes than his own, and placed other political opponents into internal exile. Kabila was shot by one of his own bodyguards in 2001. Despite early promises to the contrary, Kabila never faced his people in any kind of popular election during his four year rule.
FURTHER READING
Hochschild, A, King Leopolds Ghost, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1998.
Connell, D, and Smyth, F, Africas New Bloc, in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 2, March-April 1998, pp. 80-94.
M
MENGISTU, Haile Mariam (1937 - )
Photo reproduced from, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...35828.stm.
Mengistu assumed the presidency of Ethiopia in a military coup which ousted Haile Selassie in 1974. His links with the Russians and his ruthless nature earned him the tag 'the red terror'. Using so-called 'neighbourhood commitees', Mengistu had as many as 1.5 Million of his own people executed in just four years between 1975 and 1979. This ranks among the top ten genocides of the twentieth century. Those that survived the genocide had a good chance of starving, since Mengistus regime stole international food aid during Ethiopias famine during the mid 1980s and distributed it among themselves. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe, where he now has permanent residence, after being ousted in 1991. The Ethiopean government has been unsuccessfully trying for years to get Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe to extradite Mengistu so he can be tried for crimes against humanity.
FURTHER READING
Rubin, B, Modern Dictators, McGraw Hill, New York, 1987. Especially chapter seven.
MOBUTU, Joseph (1930 - 199
Photo reproduced from, www.terra.es/personal2/mo...gokin.htm.
Joseph Mobutu, also known as Mobutu Sese Seko, was President of the former Belgian Congo from 1965 until 1997. Mobutu seized power in a CIA backed military and named himself head of state, head of government, commander in chief of the armed forces, and head of the only political party allowed, the Popular Movement of the Revolution. It has been said that the only thing that Mobutu gave his country was a new name - Zaire, in 1971. In return, Mobutu took all that there was to take. In fact, some observers have branded Mobutu's regime a 'kleptocracy', since he made no distinction between state assets and his own. At its peak, Mobutu's personal fortune was estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be more than US $4 Billion. After his death, a search of one of Mobutu's many palaces uncovered a wine collection worth US $2.3 Million. Meanwhile, the people of the Congo remained among the poorest in the world and indeed the country was declared insolvent by the World Bank, which closed its Kinshasa office in 1995. This is despite the fact that the Congo is potentially one of the wealthiest nations in Africa, with vast reserves of Gold, Copper, Cobalt, Rubber and Ivory. Mobutu was overthrown by forces backed by the Rwandan army in 1997, and died in exile in Togo the following year. The search for his assets continues.
FURTHER READING
Hochschild, A, King Leopolds Ghost, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1998.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, G, The Congo From Leopold to Kabila, Zed Books, London, 2002. Especially chapter five.
