'Fathers' of independence
The leaders of Africa's struggles to break free from its colonisers are sometimes referred to as the "fathers of independence".
Here are profiles of 10 of them.
- Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah -
Nkrumah led the drive for the independence of Britain's Gold Coast, which in 1957 became the first independent nation south of the Sahara and known as Ghana.
First prime minister, the socialist was elected president in 1960 and cultivated a personality cult around himself as the "Redeemer".
He was ousted during a coup in 1966 and died in exile in Romania in 1972.
- Guinea: Ahmed Sekou Toure -
Dictatorial Sekou Toure was Guinea's first president after independence in 1958 and held on to power until his death in 1984.
He was the only leader of a French colony to choose to not be part of a Franco-African Community with limited autonomy, opting instead for outright independence.
- Senegal: Leopold Sedar Senghor -
The poet and statesman became Senegal's first president in 1960, transforming the country into one of Africa's first democracies by allowing a multi-party system.
He stepped down 20 years later and retired to France, where he died in 2001.
Like other key players in the decolonisation of francophone Africa, Senghor had taken part in French politics while fighting for his country's emancipation.
- Kenya: Jomo Kenyatta -
A former activist of the Mau Mau independence struggle and imprisoned for several years, Kenyatta led Kenya from independence from Britain in December 1963 to his death in 1978.
As president he advocated reconciliation with Britain, with whom he maintained close links.
- Tanzania: Julius Nyerere -
Nyerere in 1954 founded the independence-oriented Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), which led the British colony to independence in 1964 as Tanzania.
A supporter of African socialism, he was nicknamed "The Teacher" and governed until 1985, bowing out of his own accord.
In 1979 he declared war on the Ugandan regime of Idi Amin, finally delivering the country from the control of the brutal dictator.
After retirement, Nyerere was called to several mediation missions, including during Burundi's civil war. He died in London in 1999.
- Zambia: Kenneth Kaunda -
Dubbed the "African Gandhi" for his non-violent independence-oriented activism, he became the first president of independent Zambia in 1964.
Describing himself as socialist and with close ties to Moscow, he led the country for 27 years mainly under a single-party system.
His poor management resulted in a grave economic and social crisis.
After riots in 1991 he accepted free elections, at which he was defeated.
- Malawi: Hastings Kamuzu Banda -
Banda returned to what was then the British protectorate of Nyasaland in 1958, after an absence of several decades, and led the movement which obtained independence in 1964.
In 1966 he became Malawi's first president, exercising a grip on power for three decades.
In 1993, under international pressure and criticism of his rights record, he accepted a referendum on multi-party rule and was defeated at the first democratic elections in 1994.
He died in South Africa three years later.
- Botswana: Seretse Khama -
Seretse Khama co-founded the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in 1962, becoming prime minister in 1965. He helped negotiate the terms of Botswana's independence from Britain in 1966.
Botswana's first post-independence president, the highly popular Khama died in 1980 while still in power. His party has ruled Botswana since independence and his son Ian Khama was president from 2008 to 2018.
- Mozambique: Samora Machel -
Having fought against the Portuguese colonial power at the head of Marxist movement Frelimo, Machel became Mozambique's first president in 1975, setting up a Marxist-style system.
He faced a guerrilla movement backed by South Africa.
He died in October 1986 when his plane crashed in South Africa in circumstances which remain unclear.
- Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe -
Mugabe spent 10 years in prison for his role in the struggle to rid the former British colony of Rhodesia of white-minority rule.
After his release, he took refuge in Mozambique from where he led the guerrilla war which gained Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.
As prime minister and then president, Mugabe initially won plaudits for his policy of racial reconciliation but later established an authoritarian regime that crushed dissent.
The military forced him to stand down in 2017, when he was aged 93 and had been in power for 37 years. He died in September 2019 in Singapore.