Like Father, Like Son: Africa’s Longest-Serving Leaders

AFP/APP

Paris: Chad’s junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno is hoping to sweep May 6 elections and extend the more than three-decade rule of his family over the central African country.

The election comes a week after the west African nation of Togo held a vote which could prolong the Gnassingbe dynasty, in power for over half a century.

Chad’s Deby Itno took over in April 2021 at the head of a military regime after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled with an iron fist, died while on his way to lead a battle against rebels.

The elder Deby was one of a group of African strongmen who have clung onto power for decades. 

Here’s a look at the longest-serving of the continent’s current leaders: