Sad: Meet The 15 African Presidents Who Died While In Office And The Cause Of Their Deaths

Death is an inevitable part of life. The pain of loss differs depending on who might have passed on. So when a sitting president dies, the nation is ordinarily united in grief, more often, the grief extends to the subregion and the continent at large. Such deaths mostly come from natural causes, but there could also be a case whereby assassination, execution, and accident.

This is the list of 15 African President that died while they were still in office. The name is listed first, the name of the office the person held at the time of death, the country, followed by the year of death and the cause of death.

Idriss Déby, President of Chad (2021)
Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, who was  in power for over 30 years, passed away on April 20, 2021, from injuries sustained while commanding his army in fighting against rebels

John Magufuli, President of Tanzania (2021)
John Magufuli was a Tanzania president, who kick the bucket at the age of 61, he died as a result of heart disease which had troubled him for a very long time. He was the first Tanzania president who died in office.


Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi (2020)
Pierre is a president who has not made up his mind to step down from the seat as the president of Burundi. He was elected as the president of Burundi when he was 40 years old and died of a heart attack at the age of 55. however, he died when his successor was about to be sworn in office.

Michael Sata, President of Zambia, (2014)
Michael Sata passed on at the age of 77 after his election in the year 2011, he kicked the bucket of an illness which has not been disclosed to the public to date in the United States.

Meles Zenawi, prime minister of Ethiopia (2012)
Meles Zenawi was an Ethiopian prime minister, who was the president of Ethiopia for four good years( from the year 1991 to 1995) and as prime minister for seven years (from the year 1995 to 2012). He died of an undisclosed infection in Belgium at the age of 57.

John Atta Mills, president of Ghana (2012)
John Mills was been elected as the president of Ghana in the year 2008 and died three years after he was been elected. He died of stroke and throat cancer at the age of 68.

Bingu wa Mutharika, president of Malawi (2012)
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi suffered a heart attack and died two days after at the age of 78.

Malam Bacai Sanha, president of Guinea-Bissau (2012)
Bacai Sanha suffered from diabetes and passed on in Paris after four years as president of Guinea-Bissau at the age of 64.

Muammar Gaddafi, brotherly leader of Libya (2011)
Muammar Gaddafi was a victim of assassination, he was killed at the age of 69 by the rebel forces in unclear circumstances in Libya, after being its leader for good 42 years.

Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, president of Nigeria (2010)
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was been elected as president of Nigeria in the year 2007 and died of pericarditis in Nigeria three years after he was elected. He died in the year 2011 at the age of 58.

Joao Bernardo Vieira, president of Guinea-Bissau (2009)
Joao Bernardo Vieira, the president of Guinea-Bissau, was assassinated in his own country in the year 2009 at the age of 69.

Omar Bongo, President of Gabon (2009)
Omar Bongo died of advanced intestinal cancer in Barcelona, Spain, after being in office for 42 consecutive years. He passed on at the age of 72 as the longest-serving president in history.

Lansana Conte, President of Guinea (2008)
Lansana Conte suffered from diabetes and heart-related disease and died of an illness that is not known to date at the age of 74.

King Hassan II, King of Morocco (1999)
King Hassan was the king of Morocco from the year 1961 to 1999. He ruled Morocco for 38 years.

Gnassingbe Eyadema, president of Togo (2005)
President Gnassingbe Eyadema was one of Africa’s longest-serving heads of state. He died in office after ruling his country continuously for 38 good years.

Share with us in the comments section below if you have any other presidents who died while in office.

Thank you for reading. May their souls rest in peace 🙏