African Presidents who died in office in the last quarter century

In the last quarter century, Africa has lost 19 presidents.

Previous analysis done on why the continent loses many heads of state revealed that the they either stay too long in office or take up power at advanced age.

Here is a list of African presidents who died while in power since 1990:

1.Melchior Ndadaye, 40

He was Burundi’s fourth president who died while in office in October 1993. He was assassinated during an unsuccessful military coup.

2. Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim, 62

He was Comoros’s head of state who died in office in November 1998. The cause of his death is unknown.

3. Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, 50

He was the leader of Niger till his death in April 1999. He was assassinated by his own bodyguard during a successful military coup in the country.

He had seized power in January 1996 through a successful coup.

4. King Hassan 11, 70

He was the King of Morocco till his death in July 1999.

5. Laurent-Desire Kabila, 61

He was the Democratic Republic of Congo’s president till January 2001, when he was assassinated by one of his bodyguards.

6. Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal, 73

He was the prime minister and later became the first president of Somaliland.

He died in May 2002 while undergoing surgery at a military hospital in South Africa.

7. Gnassingbe Eyadema, 69
He was the president of Togo till February 2005. He died of a heart attack in an airplane while being evacuated for treatment.

8. Felix Houphouet-Boigny, 88

He was the first president of Ivory Coast. He died in December 1993 and the cause of his death was said to have been prostate cancer.

9. Levy Mwanawasa, 59

He was the president of Zambia till August 2008, when he died of a stroke.

10. Lansana Conte, 74

He was the president of Guinea till December 2008, when he died. His cause of death was not disclosed.

11. Joao Barnado Viera, 69

He was the president of Guinea Bissau till March 2009. He died in a bomb blast attack that was said to have been a retaliatory attack by soldiers.

12. Omar Bongo Ondimba, 73

He was the second president of Gabon and ruled till June 2009, when he died of a heart attack. He had ruled the country for 41 years by the time of his death.

13. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, 58

He was the president of Nigeria who died in office in May 2010. His death was reported to have been as a result of a long battle with kidney and heart problems.

14. Muammar Gaddafi, 69

He was the Prime Minister of Libya till October 2011. He took power though a coup and ruled for 42 years when he was ousted but legally was still the prime minister until his death.

15. Malam Bacai Sanha, 64

He was the president of Guinea Bissau. He died while still in office in January 2012 at a French hospital.

16. Bingu wa Mutharika, 78

He was the president of Malawi till April 2012, when he died of a cardiac arrest. His death was left unannounced for days over fears that there would be a power struggle. He was succeeded by the first African female president Joyce Banda.

17. John Atta Mills, 68

He was the president of Ghana till July 2012, when he died. The cause of his death was said to have been throat cancer.

18. Meles Zenawi, 57

He was the prime minister of Ethiopia until his death. The government said he was taken ill suddenly and died in Belgium while undergoing treatment. His health status had been an issue before his sudden death as he missed a July 2012 summit in Addis Ababa.

19. Michael Sata, 77

He is the latest African president to die in office. He was the president of Zambia till October 2014, when he died of throat complications.