African heads of state have been leading and building the countries of Africa.
Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe from its independence in 1980 until he was forced to step down in 2017. He remained in power through his tight control of the government bureaucracy and the armed forces. Robert Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924, at Katuma Jesuit … Read MoreRobert Gabriel Mugabe (1924-2019)
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the first Prime Minister of Nigeria before and after Nigerian independence from Great Britain in 1960. Born in December of 1912 in Bauchi in Northern Nigeria, Balewa’s father, Mallam Yakubu, was a minor official in the Native Authority, part of … Read MoreSir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966)
Kenneth Kaunda, who served as Zambia‘s first president from October 24, 1966, to November 2, 1991, was born on April 28, 1924, in Lubwa, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia’s name as a colony of Great Britain). Born as the eighth child to David and Helen Kaunda, they … Read MoreKenneth Kaunda (1924- )
Ahmad Sekou Toure in Bamako Image Ownership: Public Domain Ahmed Sékou Touré, first president of Guinea, trade unionist, Pan-Africanist and authoritarian leader, was born on January 9, 1922, at Faranah, Guinea, a town on the banks of the Niger River. His parents, Alpha Touré and … Read MoreAhmed Sékou Touré (1922-1984)
Elected in 1963 and named president in 1964, Jomo Kenyatta was the first president of Kenya and is still today often referred to as mzee (the Father of the Nation). Kenyatta was born under the name Kamau to Kikuyu parents in the town of Gatundu, … Read MoreJomo Kenyatta (c. 1894-1978)
Félix Houphouet-Boigny was born near Yamoussoukro, the southern part of the Ivory Coast, on October 18, 1905. His father was a Boulé tribal chief and a wealthy cocoa farmer. At five years old, Houphouet-Boigny inherited his father’s chief status and his cocoa plantation. He studied … Read MoreFélix Houphouet-Boigny (1905-1993)
Scholar, African traditionalist poet, and Senegal’s first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor was born on October 9, 1906, in Joal, Senegal. His father, Basie Diogoye Senghor, was a Malinké landowner. His mother, Gnilane Bakhoum, came from a Christian Fulani family. They gave Senghor a European name … Read MoreLéopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001)
Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent nation, the Republic of Congo, was born July 2, 1925, in Onalua in Kasai province of the Belgian Congo. With just primary education, Lumumba emerged to become one of Africa’s most vocal critics of colonialism. Early … Read MorePatrice Emery Lumumba
(1925-1961)
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the first president of post-Apartheid South Africa, was born on July 18, 1918 in Qunu in the Transkei. His father was a counselor to the paramount chief of Thembuland, and young Nelson seemed destined to inherit the counselorship. But he had his … Read MoreNelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013)
