By Frank Kamuntu
In this article, Swift Daily News will talk about Africa leaders who were silenced by the West. Many Africa leaders faced problems from Western powers in the past.
These cases show how Africa leaders and Western powers have a complicated relationship. They also make us worry about how outside influence affects African countries’ politics. This makes people wonder how much control African nations really have over their own decisions.
Here’s a highlight of 5 Africa leaders whom the West has silenced:
5. Laurent Kabila
Laurent Kabila, a Congolese leader, was silenced by the West. He was born on November 27, 1939, and became the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. Sadly, he was shot in his office on January 16, 2001.
On January 16, 2001, Kabila was shot in his office and then taken to Zimbabwe for medical treatment. According to Leonard Mashako Mamba, who was the health minister of the DRC at the time and present during the shooting, Kabila died immediately. The Congolese government announced his death from his wounds on January 18. A week later, his body was returned to Congo for a state funeral.
Kabila’s assassination was a revenge act, stemming from his meeting with Paul Kagame, a long-time enemy of the “kadogos,” who felt betrayed by Kabila’s actions.
4. Samuel Doe
Samuel Kanyon Doe, born on May 6, 1951, served as Liberia’s 21st president from 1986 to 1990. Before that, he led Liberia as Chairman of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1986.
He faced opposition from Western powers during his time as an African leader. On September 9, 1990, Prince Y. Johnson, leader of INPFL, a faction that split from Taylor’s NPFL, captured and ultimately killed Doe. Johnson, formerly a general under Taylor, gained notoriety for his brutal actions. He commissioned a video in which he ordered his men to torment Doe.
3. Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, born on December 21, 1949, was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist.
He served as Burkina Faso’s President from 1983 when he took power in a coup until his assassination in 1987 allegedly with Western complicity. Supporters consider him a charismatic and iconic revolutionary figure.
In 1983, he became Prime Minister but ended up under house arrest due to conflicts with the government. A group of supporters staged a coup in his name, making him President at just 33 years old. He initiated social, ecological, and economic programs and renamed the country Burkina Faso, meaning ‘Land of Incorruptible People,’ with its citizens called Burkinabé, meaning ‘upright people.’
On October 15, 1987, troops led by Blaise Compaoré assassinated Sankara, who took control and held it until the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising. Compaoré claimed that Sankara had harmed relations with France and Ivory Coast, accusing him of plotting to assassinate opponents.
2. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
The West silenced Africa leader Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, born in December 1912. He was Nigeria’s first prime minister after independence. He supported close ties with Britain and served during Nigeria’s time as a constitutional monarchy. Tafawa Balewa defended Northern interests and pushed for Nigerian reform and unity.
Sadly, Balewa was overthrown and killed in a military coup on January 15, 1966. His assassination caused violent riots in Northern Nigeria and led to a bloody counter-coup in July 1966. Balewa followed a pro-Western foreign policy, opposing the USSR and Eastern Bloc. He banned communist literature in Nigeria and discouraged students from accepting Soviet scholarships. He even assured the British government that he would prevent communism from infiltrating Nigeria. Allegations of a Soviet plot to overthrow his government may have contributed to his assassination by the West.
1. Patrice Lumumba
The West silenced one of the earliest Africa leaders, Patrice Lumumba, who was the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo and encountered strong opposition from Western powers.
Patrice Émery Lumumba, an African politician born on July 2, 1925, in Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa. He became the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the May 1960 election. Leading the Congolese National Movement (MNC) from 1958, he played a significant role in Congo’s journey to independence from Belgium.
A firing squad executed Lumumba on January 17, 1961. The political situation in Congo and global relations led to this event. Katangan authorities handed him over, and Belgian and Katangan officials were present during the execution. They buried his body but later destroyed it. The pan-African movement regarded his death as martyrdom. Lumumba’s death transformed him into a significant martyr for Congo.
Summary Of Africa Leaders Silenced By The West
- Patrice Lubumba – Assassinated in 1961
- Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa – Assassinated in 1966
- Thomas Sankara – Assassinated in 1987
- Samuel Doe – Assassinated in 1990
- Laurent Kabila – Assassinated in 2001
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