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Several former African leaders died in 2020 in what has been a difficult year for the continent as a whole.
The coronavirus pandemic further worsened the year with some of the deaths occurring due to complications from COVID-19.
See the list of 10 former African presidents who delivered the ghost in 2020 below:
1. Pierre Buyoya (Burundi)
He died in Paris from COVID-19 at the age of 71. Buyoya is credited with helping to boost democracy in the small African country, but was accused of being involved in the murder of his successor.
2. Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi)
Burundi’s outgoing president at the time, Pierre Nkurunziza, died in office just after the presidential elections and when his successor, Evariste Ndayishimiye, was about to take office. The official account said that he died of respiratory problems, although some accounts, especially on social media, said it was COVID-19.
3. Edem Kodjo (Togo)
The former diplomat died at the age of 82 in the French capital, Paris, on April 11. Kodjo spent two terms as Prime Minister, the first from 1994 to 1996 and again from 2005 to 2006 under former President Gnassingbe Eyadema.
4. Daniel Arap Moi (Kenya)
Moi, a former school teacher, was president of Kenya for 24 years, becoming the longest-serving president in the country. He had been in the hospital for more than a month at the time of his death.
5. Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet (Gabon)
In June, Gabonese President Ali Bongo tweeted the death of former Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet. He served as Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019 until he was replaced by Julien Nkoghe Bekale.
6. Amadou Gon Coulibaly (Ivory Coast)
Amadou Gon Coulibaly died at the age of 61 in the country’s capital, Abidjan. The deceased had returned home only a week earlier after an absence of two months during which he was receiving medical treatment in France.
7. Benjamin Mkapa (Tanzania)
He died while entering a Dar es Salaam hospital at the age of 81. He was born on November 12, 1938; Mkapa led Tanzania from 1995 to 2005 before handing it over to Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. He was the third president of the East African nation and led several regional peace mediation efforts.
8. Jerry John Rawlings (Ghana)
The former president was the oldest leader of Ghana at the time of his death at the age of 73. He had served about a third of the years after Ghana’s independence. Two terms as military ruler and two terms as democratically elected president. It came out to regional applause in 2000.
9. Amadou Toumani Toure (Mali)
He died at the age of 72 in a hospital in Turkey. He was recovering from a heart operation in Bamako before his condition worsened, prompting his evacuation to Turkey, according to his doctor. Touré was president of Mali from 2002 to 2012 before being overthrown in a military coup. His successor, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was also ousted this year in a riot following widespread anti-government protests.
10. Mamadou Tandja (Niger)
The former president of Niger also died in late November at the age of 82. Tandja’s death was announced in a statement read on national television, with a decree of three days of national mourning imposed. He won two elections after the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999. He was overthrown a decade later after a constitutional alteration to allow him to remain in power.
