Why African dictators cling on to power

There are three reasons why African dictators cling to power and refuse to step down when their people get fed up with them.

First, they somehow get this absurd notion that the country belongs to them — only them alone and their families – and must rule till cows jump over the moon.

They act like the despotic French monarch, Louis XIV, who famously declared: “L’Etat, c’est moi” (I am the State). This belief of state ownership by African dictators is often derived from the feeling that they “liberated” or “saved” their countries – either from colonial rule, corruption, despotism, etc.

It was most prevalent among the first generation of Africa’s post colonial nationalist heroes. Having won independence from colonial rule, they were hailed as heroes and deified. Called “fathers of the nations,” criticizing them was sacrilegious. Some even took awe-inspiring epithets for themselves. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana was “Osagyefo” (The Redeemer); Julius Nyerere was “Mwalimu” (The Teacher); Felix Houphouet-Boigny of Ivory Coast was “Le Vieux” (The Seer”); Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire changed his name to “Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga”, which, in the local Lingala language, meant, “The rooster who leaves no chicken untouched.” To put an end to all this silly self-adulation, Idi Amin called himself “The Conqueror of the British Empire”.

To drill into the populace that they were “saviors,” they were present everywhere. Currencies bore their portraits and their pictures hanged in every nook and cranny in the country. Every monument or building of some significance was named after them: Houphouet-Boigny this, Houphouet-Boigny that, Moi National Park and on and on. In Malawi, “President Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s face is everywhere, from the buttons on Youth League uniforms to the dresses of dancers. Highways, stadiums and schools are named for him. A national holiday honors him. It is forbidden to call him by his last name; only `Ngwazi,’ meaning lion or protector, or `the life president’ are allowed (The Washington Post, May 5, 1992; p. A22).

The same sentiment became prevalent among the next generation of African leaders – successful military coup leaders, rebel leaders who became presidents. Coup leaders immediately promoted themselves to “Generals” upon assuming office. There was a string of Nigerian “Generals” who did a number on the country. The most outrageous is Gambia’s current president: His Excellency President Professor Dr. Al-Haji Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh. He has declared that he will rule for 40 years!

Then there are the rebel leaders who oust a dictator and assume power. They also regard themselves as “saviors.” But in case after case, these rebel leaders are no different from the dictators they ousted. In fact, in many instances, they turn out to be crocodile liberators – far worse than the dictators they replaced. In this league are Charles Taylor of Liberia, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Laurent Kabila of Congo DR, etc.
In all these cases, not even bull-dozers can dislodge them from power because the state is their property to be fashioned according to the way they see it.

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SECOND, insecure African heads of state surround themselves with loyal supporters, often drawn from their own tribes: the late Doe from the Krahn tribe, Mobutu of Zaire from the Gbande, Biya of Cameroon from the Beti, Moi of Kenya from the Kalenjin and Babangida of Nigeria from the Muslims. In Togo, about 70 percent of the late General Eyadema’s army were drawn from his own Kabye tribe (Africa Report, Jan-Feb 1992; p. 5). In Cameroon, 80 percent of the prefet and sous-prefet (district chief executives are from President Biya’s Beti tribal group. In Cote d’Ivoire, the Bauole tribal group ruled the country and occupied all key positions in the administration from independence till the Dec 1999 coup. In Gabon, President Bongo’s Fang have been in control. When Senegal’s first president, Leopold Senghor, stepped down in 1981, he passed power on to a fellow Serer, Abdou Diouf.

Other supporters are simply bought: soldiers with fat pay-checks and perks; urban workers with cheap rice and sardines (“essential commodities”); students with free tuition and hefty allowances and intellectuals, opposition leaders and lawyers with big government posts and Mercedes Benzes. Back in 1992, Nigerian columnist, Pini Jason, observed that one of the driving motivations to office has been the power to dispense largesse, the power to appoint and dismiss, and the power to make and unmake. Therefore, the first official act of Nigerians in office has been to create offices and appointments to be handed out. The customary method has been to dissolve the boards of government corporations. Jason wrote: “And so the Lagos State governor was acting within both his right and tradition when he dissolved all the boards of government agencies in his state. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, except that His Excellency did not know that there were no boards in the first place. They were dissolved by his predecessor!” (New African, April 1992; p. 21).

Since security is their utmost priority, dictators buy the loyalty of the officer corps by showering them with salary increases, purchase of new weapons, large emoluments, cars and other gifts. Former Nigerian dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida rewarded “nearly 3,000 of his most loyal military chiefs by giving them new Peugeot sedans. Most Nigerians will never be able to afford anything like a new Peugeot 505, which costs the equivalent of $21,000 in Lagos. A senior university professor, for example, earns about $4,000 a year, while a nurse or mechanic is lucky to bring home more than $1,000″ (The New York Times, Dec 2, 1993; p. A3).

Dictators also allow the officer corps to engage in lucrative business transactions or own profitable businesses. Under Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the military controlled several businesses as is also the case in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe allowed his security chiefs to get rich by plundering the riches of the Congo DR and currently the Marange diamond fields.

Thus, even when the head of state is contemplating stepping down, these supporters and lackeys fiercely resist any cutbacks in government largesse or any attempt to open up the political system – for fear of losing the jobs, perks and privileges. This was precisely the case in The Gambia when Sir Dawda Jawara–in power since the country’s independence in 1965–announced in March 1992 his intention to step down. Free loaders and patronage junkies urged him to stay on! In Sierra Leone, Mr. Musa Gendemeh, the deputy agriculture minister, was quite explicit. On the BBC “Focus on Africa” program (April 24, 1990), he declared that,

“He won’t give up his present privileged position for the sake of a multiparty system nor would one expect a policeman or soldier to give up his one bag of rice at the end of every month for the same…
He warned that anyone talking about another party would be committing treason…that ministers and MPs suspected of having something to do with the multiparty movement are now under surveillance..and that whenever there has been trouble in the country, his people, the Mende, have suffered the most and he warned them to be careful” (West Africa, June 4-10, 1990; p. 934).

When Robert Mugabe lost the March 2008 elections, he was willing to concede defeat and retire to Malaysia. But his security chiefs dragged him back by the tail and said that was not a decision he alone must take. They urged him to go for a run-off and assured him they would do everything to assure his “victory.” They did, costing tens of lives.

To protect their perks and benefits, these sycophants lie, deceive and misinform the head of state. They continually praise him to the sky, even when his own tail is on fire! Kenneth Kaunda was informed that he would have “no problem” winning the October 1991 elections as he had 80 percent of the popular vote and “everything else had been taken care of.” But when the actual voting took place, he was resoundingly humiliated, garnering a pitiful 25 percent of the vote. Ghanaians would recall that “party stooges” and “sycophants” also misled Nkrumah. African leaders should remember that “It is better to have wise people reprimand you than have stupid people sing you praises” (Ecclesiastes in the Bible, 7:5).

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REASON No. 3 is FEAR. Many dictators know that they have done bad. Their hands are so steeped in blood and their pockets so full of booty that they are afraid all their past gory misdeeds will be exposed and reprisals will be taken against them. Or they could be hauled before the ICC for crimes against humanity. President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is one such example. There is an ICC warrant for his arrest. Four Kenyan ministers are also being sought by the ICC for their role in the ethnic violence that claimed over 1,200 deaths and rendered more than 500,000 homeless. Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia is also terrified of being hauled before the ICC for his role in the massacre of more than 400 peaceful protesters and the jailing of more than 40,000 opposition leaders and supporters after the 2005 elections. So they cling to power, regardless of the cost and consequences. But eventually they are dislodged and only few subsequently live peacefully in their own countries, much more to enjoy the loot.

If fear is the primary motivating factor, there is a sensible way out of this dilemma. Africans are very forgiving people. The wise head of state would call a meeting of all opposition leaders in a spirit of “national reconciliation” and negotiate a way out. Items for negotiation might include an indemnity, safe passage out of the country in return for the repatriation of the country’s wealth that was looted by his regime. An apology or compensation to the families of those executed might also be discussed. Another African head of state, a World Bank official, or some foreign ambassador should be invited as an observer. But the military regime in Ghana did not adopt this method. It convened a Consultative Assembly to draw up Ghana’s constitution and after the Assembly had finished work on the constitution, the military regime clandestinely inserted an “indemnity” clause at the eleventh hour and presented the constitution to the people as “final.” Ghanaians were outraged.

George Ayittey  is a Ghanaian economist, author and president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington DC.He is the author of best selling book “Africa Unchained:  Defeating Dictators”