Being an African President is a Dangerous Business: Presidential Mortality is Just one of the Risks
Since 2008, eight Head of States or Presidents have died in Africa; the latest the drink the curse is Ghana’s John Atta Mills. Before President Mills, other presidents who left for the ancestral land include Guinea-Bissau’s Malam Bacai Sanha, Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, Nigeria’s Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa, Guinea’s Lansana Conté and Gabon’s Omar Bongo.
Considering that there are 54 countries in Africa, this translates to a presidential mortality rate of approximately 15%. If this doesn’t scare you, compare it to the infant mortality rate of Afghanistan and Sierra Leone which are 14 and 13.5% respectively (Afghanistan and Sierra Leone top the world in infant mortality rates). What this means is that even a baby born in Afghanistan or Sierra Leone has a higher chance of surviving the first four to 5 years in life than an African presidents has in surviving a couple of terms in office.
Why is this so, considering that over the same period (from 2008), no president died in South America, only one president died in Asia (North Korea), one president died in Europe (Poland), only one died in North America (Barbados).
So what is happening in Africa? Continue reading “Presidential Mortality in Africa is Higher than Infant Mortality”
