Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
Two African heads of state who came to power in very different ways cemented their rule over the weekend.
In Togo, President Faure Gnassingbé was sworn into a newly created post on Saturday as “President of the Council of Ministers” — the country’s highest office, with no official term limits — in a change that opposition lawmakers said was made to help him stay in power indefinitely.
Gnassingbé became the country’s leader in 2005 after his father died, and members of his family have ruled the West African nation for nearly six decades.
In Gabon, Brice Oligui Nguema, leader of the 2023 coup that ended the Bongo family’s 55-year-rule, was sworn in as president after winning an election last month with nearly 95% of the vote.
“Everything that has been stolen from the people, I want to return to them,” he told Al Jazeera, promising an end to dynastic politics.
