20 African Presidents Who Were Assassinated In The Most Dangerous Ways

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 13:29:01 +0000

It is extremely risky to be a leader in Africa. Throughout the years, many African presidents have suffered coups and worse. Join us, as we look at 20 African presidents who were assassinated in the most dangerous ways.

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Patrice Lumumba

Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician and independence activist who served as the Democratic Republic of the Congo's first prime minister from June to September 1960, following the May 1960 election. He led the Congolese National Movement from 1958 until his execution in January 1961. He was an African nationalist and pan-Africanist who contributed significantly to the Congo's transition from a Belgian colony to an independent republic. A mutiny in the army broke out shortly after Congo's independence in June 1960, kicking off the Congo Crisis.

Lumumba attempted to flee to Stanleyville to join his allies who had established a new anti-Mobutu state known as the "Free Republic of the Congo" following a coup. Lumumba was abducted by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, taken to Katanga, and killed by separatist Katangan authorities led by Moïse Tshombe with the assistance of Belgian partisans. He was viewed as a martyr for the pan-African cause. Belgium issued a formal apology in 2002 for its role in the execution.

Sylvanus Olympio

Sylvanus Olympio was a Togolese politician who served as prime minister and later president of Togo from 1958 until his assassination in 1963. He descended from the prominent Olympio family, which includes his uncle Octaviano Olympio, one of Togo's wealthiest individuals in the early 1900s. Shortly after midnight on January 13, 1963, Olympio and his wife were awakened by military personnel breaking into their home.

Before morning, U.S. Ambassador Leon B. Poullada discovered Olympio's body three steps from the U.S. Embassy door. It was the first coup d'état in the French and British territories of Africa that gained independence in the 1950s and 1960s, and Olympio is known as the first African president slain during a military coup. Étienne Eyadéma, who took control in 1967 and remained in charge until 2005, claimed to have personally fired the shot that killed Olympio as he attempted to escape.