World News
Long-serving African leaders employ diverse tactics to retain power
Autocrats across several African nations are leveraging constitutional changes, family successions, and loyal networks to secure their rule despite advancing age.
The short version
- President Paul Biya of Cameroon, aged 93, is serving his eighth term with no designated vice president, raising concerns about potential elite rivalries and succession battles.
- Uganda and Equatorial Guinea show signs of potential dynastic successions, with the presidents' sons taking on prominent military and executive roles.
- Zimbabwe's president signed constitutional changes extending presidential terms and shifting the electoral process from a public vote to a parliamentary election.
Key facts
- Cameroon's 93-year-old President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, began an eighth term in 2025 that is scheduled to end in late 2032.[Deutsche Welle]
- In Uganda, 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has risen to head the military and is increasingly acting as a political figure.[Deutsche Welle]
- Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has positioned his son, Teodorin, as first vice president and head of the military, who recently announced a government resignation on his father's behalf.[Deutsche Welle]
- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed constitutional amendments in July 2026 that extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years and shift presidential elections from a direct public vote to a parliamentary vote.[Deutsche Welle]
What remains uncertain
- It remains uncertain whether President Museveni will formally arrange a dynastic succession during his lifetime, or if a sudden power vacuum in Uganda would lead to constitutionally mandated elections.[Deutsche Welle]
- Opponents and constitutional experts in Zimbabwe argue that the constitutional changes require a public referendum, though the government maintains the amendment process is fully complete.[Deutsche Welle]
Sources
- Africa's aging autocrats fight to stay in powerDeutsche Welle