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Africa’s Longest-Serving Current leaders

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April 8, 2021

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Africa’s longest-ruling current leaders

6. Idriss Deby, Chad

Over 30 years of rule

Deby took power at the head of an armed rebellion

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet His Excellency Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad, and Mrs. Hinda Deby Itno, in the Blue Room during a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner at the White House, Aug. 5, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

5. King Mswati III, eSwatini

Nearly 35 years of rule

Political parties are banned in eSwatini

previously known as Swaziland

Swaziland’s King Mswati III delivers a speech during the launch of a campaign calling for his male subjects to get circumcised to curb the spread of HIV infection, on July 15, 2011, in Mankayane. Swaziland has the world’s highest HIV rate of infection; one in four adults are affected in the kingdom of nearly 1.2 million. The US-funded circumcision campaign aims to snip 80 percent of Swazi males aged 14 to 49 within a year, with the hope of averting 90,000 new infections and save the health system millions of dollars over the next decade. AFP PHOTO / JINTY JACKSON

4. Yoweri Museveni, Uganda

Over 35 years of rule

The constitution has been changed twice to keep Museveni in power

The two-term limit was removed in 2005

The age limit of 75 was abolished in 2017

Yoweri Museveni

3. Denis Sassou Nguesso, Congo Republic

38 years in office

Sassou lost the first multi-party elections in 1992

He regained power in 1997 after a civil war

Denis Sassou Nguesso

2. Paul Biya, Cameroon

Over 38 years in office

Biya took over in 1982 after serving as prime minister

He has won five multi-party elections since 1992

The opposition has called the results fraudulent

Paul Biya

1. Teodoro Obiang, Equatorial Guinea

Over 41 years in office

Obiang seized power from his uncle in a coup

Opposition parties were legalized in 1992

but Obiang’s party dominates

Teodoro Obiang

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