by Stephen Shea

Created on: May 01, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

Few African leaders since independence have given up power peacefully. Then again, few of the colonizers did, either. We may not be able to agree on a definition of "power hungry" that applies specifically to African leaders. However, we can compare undemocratic African leaders to undemocratic leaders elsewhere, and identify common elements. This may help explain "why African leaders are power hungry," and why they are not alone.

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is a good example of a power-hungry African leader. He holds onto the reins of power no matter the cost to his country's people. His power is unchecked by any constitution or democratic structure - Zimbabwe has both, but they are designed not to interfere with autocratic rule. He is only subject to the rule of rebellion, which has not quite materialized yet, and to the rule of age, which he has fended off for now.

What is the real difference between Robert Mugabe and Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania? Both countries remade themselves as independent under strongmen. Both leaders failed as economic planners, and resorted to undemocratic means to stay in power.

Ceausescu, a Marxist, was in prison during much of World War II, and came to power in 1967, 19 years after the Romanian Communist Party took control of Romania. Ceausescu maintained Romania should be independent of the Soviet Union, and tried unsuccessfully to develop the national economy through Marxist-Leninist central planning. He never felt secure as leader, and quickly employed the state to repress his opponents. In 1989, that year of global democratization, Romanians overthrew Ceausescu and had their vengeance on him.

Mugabe, also a Marxist, was in prison for a decade during the later years of British colonial and Rhodesian rule in Zimbabwe. On his release, Mugabe fled to Mozambique and led a military force striking at the Rhodesian government. He and his allies forced the British government to negotiate an end to Rhodesian rule, and in 1979, Mugabe and the other leading nationalist general, Joshua Nkomo, formed a government. Within a year, Mugabe suspected Nkomo and his supporters of planning a coup. He purged the government of all but the most loyal, and has since ruled as a dictator. His economic plans, the weather and international trade have made a mess of Zimbabwe's economy. His own 1989 may be just around the corner.

Nigeria is among those countries in Africa and elsewhere that has generally been under military rule. The civilian government of General

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