African presidents who were ‘humiliated’ out of office: Conde, Gaddafi, Gbagbo

The most recent coup d’etat on the continent happened in the West African country of Guinea on September 5, 2021.

The overthrow of Alpha Conde will be remembered much for the ‘victim’ as it will be for the one who led the operation – Mamady Doumbouya, leader of the Elite Forces appointed by Conde himself.

The coup will also be remembered as one that had a heavy social media buzz after photos and videos of ‘detained’ Conde went viral on social media.

Conde was at a point filmed seated in a sofa in jeans and shirt made of African print – unbuttoned to the extent that it shows his singlet. He is visibly disturbed about his political ending, not so much about the masked soldiers asking him questions he refuses to answer.

He is not the only African leader to be humiliated whiles being forced out of office.

Like Conde, Gaddafi and Gbagbo humiliated out of office

In 2011, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi was captured by rebel forces aligned to NATO forces during the battle for Tripoli. A bloodied Gadaffi is manhandled by his captors and subsequently shot dead.

A year before Gaddafi’s fall, Ivorian former president Laurent Gbagbo was also dragged out of a bunker in the presidential palace by rebel forces allied to his then opponent Alassane Ouattara.

He was seized along with his spouse (now ex-wife) Simone Gbagbo and other allies and detained. Laurent will later be sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he was tried and jailed then later acquitted, he has since returned home and reconciled with Quattara.

Simone on the other hand faced the legal system back home and was jailed 20 years but few years ago, she was also granted presidential pardon. She recently launched a political platform.

Other African leaders have lost power in the last few years but they have been forced out of office in much more ‘dignified’ ways – i.e. forced resignation or exile, detention away from the media lenses except for being caged during court appearances.

2017 – Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe was forced to resign

2017 – The Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh forced into exile by regional bloc, ECOWAS

2018 – South Africa president Jacob Zuma forced to resign as president

2011 – Egypt president Hosni Mubarak forced to resign after mass protests

2013 – Mohammed Morsi overthrown by military chief and current president Abdel fatteh Al-Sisi

2019 – Sudan’s Omar Al Bashir and Algeria’s Abdel Aziz Bouteflika – forced out of office after mass protests. Bashir hauled before courts for corruption and human rights abuses

Bashir, Morsi and Mubarak were placed in cages when they appeared in court