African Leaders by FlaxmanR

Coalition governments are often a response to disputed elections, of which Africa has many. Morgan Tsvangirai became Prime Minister of his country in 2009 following a disputed election in which his supporters claimed that fraud had led to the reelection of what man, who has ruled the country since its 1980 independence as leader of the ZANU-PF party?

This country does have an internationally recognized government, currently led by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, but its territory has not been truly unified under a single banner since the time of Siad Barre. What country’s north has multiple semi-autonomous regions such as Puntland, along with southern areas that the government is still contesting with successors to the Islamic Courts Union?

Blaise Compaoré organized both the 1983 coup that brought this man to power and the 1987 coup that saw him overthrown and murdered. (Compaoré subsequently ruled until being ousted by popular protest in 2014.) Sometimes known as “Africa’s Che Guevara,” what leader was responsible for changing his country’s name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso?

In 2009, media mogul Andry Rajoelina seized power from incumbent president Marc Ravalomanana despite constitutionally being too young to lead the country (an issue he subsequently rectified by pushing through a change to the constitution in November 2010). In the end, both men were discouraged from running in the 2013 elections, won by Rajoelina’s former finance minister Hery Rajaonarimampianina. What island nation was rocked by this political instability?

Graça Machel was the First Lady of Mozambique from 1975 until 1986, when her husband Samora Machel was killed in a plane crash. She subsequently achieved the rare distinction of having been the First Lady of two different countries when, on July 18, 1998, she married what other African president who was 27 years her senior?

Although not the first female head of state in Africa nor even in her own country – as Ruth Perry led the 1996-1997 interim government that ended with warlord Charles Taylor’s ascendance to the presidency – what woman’s 2005 election following the second Liberian Civil War made her the first woman to be elected president in Africa? She won reelection in 2011 shortly after being awarded a share of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Criminal Court has been criticized for focusing exclusively on Africans, with the result being that many Africans now resent it. This may have been best expressed in March 2013 when the citizens of what country elected the son of their first president to be their new president despite the fact that he was under ICC indictment for crimes against humanity following disputed elections in 2007?

Multiple African governments, most recently South Africa, have allowed this man to pass through their territory without arresting him despite being parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. What president of Sudan, in that post since 1989, is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur?

The newest African head of state is John Magufuli, who was sworn in as president on November 5, 2015. Like previous president Jakaya Kikwete, Magufuli is a member of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. What country has been ruled by CCM since the party’s formation in a merger of the TANU and ASP parties in 1977, helped by the fact that it was the only party allowed in the country until 1992?

Three African countries have monarchs as heads of state. One is Morocco, whose head of state is King Mohammed VI. What two similar southern African nations are the others? One of the two is an absolute monarchy ruled by King Mswati III, while the other’s King Letsie III is a constitutional monarch whose duties are mostly ceremonial.

The father overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997 after having spent years leading a rebel movement in the east of the country. The son took power in 2001 following his father’s assassination and has since been officially elected twice, with rumors that he plans to change the constitution to remain in power beyond 2016. What is the last name of these Congolese politicians, Laurent-Désiré and Joseph?

In the eight years since its founding, the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which is given to African heads of state who have served their constitutionally mandated terms and then stepped down peacefully, has only been awarded four times due to a dearth of candidates who meet the criteria. Name any of the winners OR any of the countries they led.