List of assassinations in Africa
This is a list of notable people who have been assassinated in Africa .
Algeria
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
117 BC
Hiempsal , co-ruler of Numidia
Hiempsal's death was ordered by his cousin, Jugurtha .
December 24, 1942
François Darlan , former Head of Government of Vichy France and High Commissioner of France in Africa
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
March 4, 1957
Larbi Ben M'Hidi , Algerian nationalist and FLN leader
Hanged by French Army officers under Paul Aussaresses ; his death was initially passed off as a suicide.
March 23, 1957
Larbi Tbessi , nationalist and president of the Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema
Thrown from a building by French Army officers under Paul Aussaresses ; at the time, his death was passed off as a suicide.
June 21, 1957
Maurice Audin , Pied-noir and PC militant
March 15, 1962
Mouloud Feraoun , writer
Organisation armée secrète
July 8, 1976
Gaston Marie Jacquier , Catholic bishop
Abdessalam Abdelkader
Stabbed in a crowded Algiers street while wearing full clerical attire. The assassin had a history of psychiatric problems, but was suspected by some to have been religiously motivated.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
February 3, 1987
Mustafa Bouyali , Islamic fundamentalist
Ambushed by Algerian security services.
June 29, 1992
Mohamed Boudiaf , Chairman of the High Council of State
Lembarek Boumaârafi
Shot at Annaba .[ 4]
June 2, 1993
Tahar Djaout , journalist, poet and author
Killed by the Armed Islamic Group .
August 21, 1993
Kasdi Merbah , former Prime Minister of Algeria
March 10, 1994
Abdelkader Alloula , playwright
Killed by two members of the Islamic Front for Armed Jihad .
September 29, 1994
Cheb Hasni , singer
December 3, 1994
Saïd Mekbel , journalist
Assassinated with a car bomb in Aïn Bénian .
September 28, 1995
Aboubakr Belkaid , former minister
May 21, 1996
Seven Trappist monks of Tibérine
The monks were kidnapped by the Armed Islamic Group in March 1996, and reportedly executed on May 21; others claim that the monks were accidentally killed by the Algerian army . See Assassination of the monks of Tibhirine .
August 1, 1996
Pierre Lucien Claverie , Catholic bishop of Oran
October 22, 1996
Ali Boucetta, Mayor of Algiers
January 28, 1997
Abdelhak Benhamouda , trade unionist
June 25, 1998
Lounès Matoub , Berberist singer
November 22, 1999
Abdelkader Hachani , Islamic fundamentalist
Fouad Boulemia
Fouad Boulemia , a member of the Armed Islamic Group , was convicted for Hachani's murder and sentenced to death, but was later released.
Angola
Benin
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
June 20, 1975
Michel Aikpé , Minister of the Interior
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
October 13, 1961
Louis Rwagasore , Prime Minister of Burundi
Georges Kageorgis
January 15, 1965
Pierre Ngendandumwe , Prime Minister of Burundi[ 5]
December 15, 1965
Joseph Bamina , Prime Minister of Burundi
Killed during the 1965 Burundian coup d'état attempt
April 29, 1972
Ntare V Ndizeye , deposed King of Burundi
October 21, 1993
Melchior Ndadaye , President of Burundi , founder of the Burundi Workers' Party
Overthrown and killed in the 1993 Burundian coup d'état attempt
March 11, 1995
Ernest Kabushemeye , Minister for Mines and Energy
September 9, 1996
Joachim Ruhuna , Roman Catholic archbishop of Gitega
November 20, 2001
Kassi Manlan , World Health Organization representative
Murdered in a conspiracy after discovering that aid money was being diverted into private accounts.
January 1, 2017
Emmanuel Niyonkuru , Minister of Water and the Environment
Assassinated in Bujumbura .
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
December 4, 1996[ 6]
Christophe Grelombe, government minister
Chad
Comoros
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
May 29, 1978
Ali Soilih , former President of Comoros
Killed after being overthrown in a coup
November 26, 1989
Ahmed Abdallah , President of Comoros
Overthrown in a coup.
June 13, 2010
Combo Ayouba , army chief of staff and former interim head of state
Republic of the Congo
Ivory Coast
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
January 17, 1961
Patrice Lumumba , former Prime Minister of the Congo [ 8]
Soldiers of the State of Katanga with the involvement of Belgian officials
Sent to the breakaway region of Katanga to be killed after being ousted in a coup led by Joseph Mobutu during the Congo Crisis
January 17, 1961
Maurice Mpolo , former Minister of Interior, and associate of Lumumba[ 7]
January 17, 1961
Joseph Okito , Vice-President of the Senate and associate of Lumumba[ 8]
January 29, 1993
Philippe Bernard, Ambassador of France to Zaire
Killed during an army mutiny in Kinshasa
May 6, 1997
Mahele Lieko Bokungu , Commanding General of the Forces Armées Zaïroises
Killed by Mobutu loyalists for attempting to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Laurent-Désiré Kabila during the First Congo War
January 16, 2001
Laurent-Désiré Kabila , President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo [ 7]
Rashidi Muzele
Killed by one of his bodyguards
February 22, 2021
Luca Attanasio , Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [ 9]
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (suspected)
Killed in an ambush in Goma
Egypt
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
1962 BC
Amenemhat I , Pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt
The identity of the assassin is unknown and the fact of the assassination is not entirely certain. Nevertheless, it is accepted as likely that he was killed in his bedchamber by members of his bodyguard as described in the Instructions of Amenemhat . The assassination of Amenemhat I is commonly cited as the first recorded political assassination in history.
1155 BC
Ramesses III , Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt
Tiye , Pebekkamen , and other members of the Harem conspiracy
CT scans of his mummy show the king throat was cut deeply enough to strike bone, likely killing him immediately. The conspirators, who were attempting to install Tiye's son Pentawer on the throne, failed, and (according to the Judicial Papyrus of Turin ) were tried and sentenced to death by the government of Ramesses's intended successor Ramesses IV .
48 BC
Pompey the Great , Roman general and politician
Achillas , Lucius Septimius Salvius, and Julius Caesar
1121
Al-Afdal Shahanshah , vizier of Fatimid Egypt
1130
Al-Amir bi-Ahkami l-Lah , Fatimid Caliph
October 24, 1260
Qutuz , Mamluk sultan of Egypt
Baybars
June 14, 1800
Jean Baptiste Kléber , French general
Suleiman al-Halabi
February 20, 1910
Boutros Ghali , Prime Minister of Egypt
Ibrahim Nassif al-Wardani
November 19, 1924
Sir Lee Stack , Governor-General of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
November 6, 1944
Walter Edward Guinness , Lord Moyne, the UK 's Minister Resident in the Middle East
Eliyahu Hakim , a member of Zionist group Lehi
February 24, 1945
Ahmed Maher Pasha , Prime Minister of Egypt[ 10]
Mustafa Essawy [citation needed ] .
January 5, 1946
Amin Osman , Former minister of finance.
A group of Egyptian army officers including Anwar Sadat .
December 28, 1948
Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi , Prime Minister of Egypt[ 11]
Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan
February 12, 1949
Hassan al-Banna , founder of the Muslim Brotherhood
November 28, 1971
Wasfi al-Tal , Prime Minister of Jordan
Shot by members of Black September during a visit to Cairo .[ 7]
October 6, 1981
Anwar Sadat , President of Egypt
Khalid Islambouli
Shot while reviewing a military parade;[ 7] see Assassination of Anwar El Sadat .
October 13, 1990
Rifaat al-Mahgoub , Speaker of the Egyptian parliament
June 8, 1992
Farag Foda , politician and intellectual
Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya claimed responsibility for the attack.
June 29, 2015
Hisham Barakat , Prosecutor General
Killed in car bombing
Equatorial Guinea
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
November 14, 1932
Gustavo de Sostoa y Sthamer, Spanish governor
Eswatini
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
April 1, 2008
Gabriel Mkhumane , political opposition leader
Ethiopia
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
December 17, 1960
Ras Abebe Aragai , Prime Minister
Killed during a failed coup attempt
June 22, 2019
General Se'are Mekonnen , Chief of General Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force
Killed during the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt
June 22, 2019
Major General Gezae Abera, Aide to General Mekonnen
Killed during the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt
March 30, 2023
Desalegn Bokonja, head of the Prosperity Party ’s office in Nekemte
April 27, 2023
Girma Yeshitila , head of the Prosperity Party in Amhara
May 8, 2023
Omer Lemma, head of the Prosperity Party in Haruka Woreda, Afar Region
The Gambia
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
December 16, 2004
Deyda Hydara , journalist
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
February 25, 1965
Pio Gama Pinto , journalist, anti-colonial activist and socialist legislator
July 5, 1969
Tom Mboya , Minister of Economic Planning [ 12]
March 2, 1975
Josiah Mwangi Kariuki , Assistant Government Minister
January 3, 1980
Joy Adamson , conservationist
August 20, 1989
George Adamson , conservationist
February 13, 1990
Robert Ouko , Foreign Minister
Disappeared on February 12–13; found dead on February 16.[ 13]
May 16, 1998
Seth Sendashonga , former interior minister of Rwanda
August 23, 2000
John Anthony Kaiser , Roman Catholic priest
March 5, 2009
Oscar Kamau Kingara , human rights activist
March 5, 2009
John Paul Oulo , human rights activist
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
May 12, 1863
Radama II , King of Madagascar
After Radama passed a controversial law allowing disputes to be settled by duelling, his palace was besieged on the orders of the Prime Minister , Rainivoninahitriniony . Radama was captured by soldiers and strangled with a silk sash; some historians believe he may have survived this attack and lived out the rest of his days in obscurity.
February 11, 1975
Richard Ratsimandrava , President of Madagascar
Shot six days after taking power in military coup.[ 7]
Malawi
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
February 3, 1915
John Chilembwe , anti-colonial leader
Mauritania
Mauritius
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
May 10, 1965
Rampersad Surath , Political activist
May 10, 1965
Robert Brousse and Jacques Beesoo , Political activist and policeman[ 14] in Trois Boutiques.[ 15]
November 25, 1971
Fareed Muttur , Political activist (MMM)
November 25, 1971
Azor Adelaide , Dock worker and political activist (MMM)
1986
Cyril de Guardia, Raymond Desvaux de Marigny and Ambicaduth Sooknundun (Medine Sugar Estate executives)
Sténio Hervel (alias Piou Piou)
Piou Piou Hervel murders
1996
Babal Joomun, Zulfikar Bheeky and Yousouf Moorad Political activists (Labour Party)
Escadron de la mort
Gorah Issac murders
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
March 27, 1978
Clemens Kapuuo , Herero chief and politician
September 12, 1989
Anton Lubowski , leading white SWAPO activist
Shot in front of his home in central Windhoek , allegedly by members of the government's Civilian Co-Operation Bureau.
Niger
Nigeria
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
January 15, 1966
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , Prime Minister of Nigeria
Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état
January 15, 1966
Ahmadu Bello , Premier of Northern Nigeria
Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état
January 15, 1966
Samuel Akintola , Premier of Western Nigeria
Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état
January 15, 1966
Festus Okotie-Eboh , Finance Minister of Nigeria
Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état
July 29, 1966
Adekunle Fajuyi , Military Governor of Western Nigeria
Killed during the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup led by Theophilus Danjuma .
July 29, 1966
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi , Head of State of Nigeria
Killed during the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup
February 13, 1976
Murtala Mohammed , Head of State of Nigeria[ 7]
Killed in an attempted coup led by Buka Suka Dimka .
October 19, 1986
Dele Giwa , journalist
June 4, 1996
Kudirat Abiola , pro-democracy activist and wife of presidential candidate Moshood Abiola
December 23, 2001
Bola Ige , Justice Minister
October 16, 2011
Modu Bintube, Borno state legislator
Suspected to have been killed by Boko Haram militants.[ 16]
July 2, 2016
Gideon Aremu, Oyo State legislator and lawmaker.[ 17]
Rwanda
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
December 1896
King Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa
Died in the aftermath of the Rucunshu Coup
December 26, 1985
Dian Fossey , primatologist
Possibly killed by gorilla poachers.
April 6, 1994
Juvénal Habyarimana , President of Rwanda , and Cyprien Ntaryamira , President of Burundi
Plane carrying the two leaders shot down by unknown attackers with a surface-to-air missile . The attack was the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide .[ 7] See Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira .
April 7, 1994
Agathe Uwilingiyimana , Prime Minister of Rwanda
Killed during the Rwandan genocide
April 7, 1994
Joseph Kavaruganda , President of the Constitutional Court
Killed during the Rwandan Genocide
April 7, 1994
Faustin Rucogoza , Minister of Information
Killed during the Rwandan Genocide
April 20, 1994
Rosalie Gicanda , Queen Dowager of Rwanda
Killed during the Rwandan Genocide
May 1994
Jean-Baptiste Habyalimana , Prefect of Butare Province and then the only Tutsi prefect in Rwanda
Killed during the Rwandan Genocide
June 1994
André Kameya , journalist and Secretary-General of the Parti Libéral
Killed during the Rwandan Genocide
Senegal
Somalia
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
April 16, 1957
Kamal Al Din Salah , chairman of the UN Advisory Council on Italian Somaliland
Shot by a Somalian
October 15, 1969
Abdirashid Ali Shermarke , President of Somalia
Shot by one of his bodyguards, possibly for personal – rather than political – reasons
July 9, 1989
Salvatore Colombo , Roman Catholic bishop of Mogadishu
July 28, 2006
Abdallah Isaaq Deerow , former acting President of Somalia
June 17, 2009
Ali Said , Mogadishu police chief
June 18, 2009
Omar Hashi Aden , security minister
Killed in the 2009 Beledweyne bombing , for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.
June 10, 2011
Abdishakur Sheikh Hassan Farah , interior minister
Haboon Abdulkadir Hersi Qaaf, Farah's teenage niece
Killed in a suicide bomb attack; Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.
July 27, 2022
Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Waafow , mayor of Merca
Killed in a suicide bomb attack; Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.
South Africa
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
September 22, 1828
Shaka , King of the Zulus
Dingane and Mhlangana , Shaka's half-brothers
September 6, 1966
Hendrik Verwoerd , Prime Minister of South Africa [ 7]
Dimitri Tsafendas
Tsafendas, a parliamentary messenger, stabbed Verwoerd to death with a dagger in the House of Assembly due to his opposition to Verwoerd's policy of apartheid .
November 22, 1977
Robert Smit , economist and parliamentary candidate for the National Party
August 17, 1982
Ruth First , anti-apartheid scholar and wife of Communist party leader Joe Slovo
Killed by a letter bomb ; her death was ordered by Craig Williamson of the South African Police .
May 21, 1985
Vernon Nkadimeng , anti-apartheid activist
March 29, 1988
Dulcie September , head of the African National Congress in Paris
May 1, 1989
David Webster , anthropologist
Civil Cooperation Bureau
April 10, 1993
Chris Hani , leader of the South African Communist Party
Janusz Walus
November 5, 1994
Johan Heyns , prominent leader in the Dutch Reformed Church
January 22, 2009
Mbongeleni Zondi , Zulu chieftain and politician
Sudan
Date
Victim(s)
Assassin(s)
Notes
March 2, 1973
Cleo A. Noel, Jr. , US Chief of Mission, George Curtis Moore , Deputy Chief of Mission, and Guy Eid, Belgian chargé d'affaires [ 7]
Taken hostage and assassinated by members of Black September ; see Attack on the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum .
January 1, 2008
John Granville , diplomat for the United States Agency for International Development
June 14, 2023
Khamis Abakar , Governor of West Darfur State
Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
Killed during the Battle of Geneina of the 2023 Sudan conflict
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Western Sahara
Zambia
Zimbabwe
See also
References
^ CINI. "Les Evèques d'Algérie (l'histoire) | Chrétiennes" . www.cerclealgerianiste.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2017-06-18 .
^ "Victimes religieuses en Algérie" . La Croix (in French). 2016-04-15. ISSN 0242-6056 . Retrieved 2017-06-18 .
^ Kiser, John (2003). The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria . Macmillan. p. 47. ISBN 9780312302948 .
^ "Historic Assassinations Since 1865," The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004 , p156 (World Almanac 2004 )
^ "Chief Political Assassinations Since 1865," The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1967 , p257 (World Almanac 1967 )
^ "explaining the conflict in central african republic" . Epiphany .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m World Almanac 2004 , p156
^ a b c World Almanac 1967 , p257
^ Specia, Megan; Pianigiani, Gaia (22 February 2021). "Italian Ambassador Among Three Killed in Attack on U.N. Convoy in Congo" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 22 February 2021 .
^ "Assassinations and Political Murders," 20th Century Timeline (Griesewood & Dempsey, Ltd., 1985) (Crescent Books, 1985) [20th Century Timeline ], p119
^ 20th Century Timeline , p120
^ "Historic Assassinations Since 1865," The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1982 (World Almanac 1982 ), p750
^ Cohen, David William (2004). The Risks of Knowledge: Investigations Into the Death of the Hon. Minister John Robert Ouko in Kenya, 1990 . Ohio University Press. p. x. ISBN 9780821415986 .
^ Sivaramen, Nad. "Histoire Vivante" . L'Express. Retrieved 2018-01-28 .
^ Li Ching Hum, Philip (2018-03-09). "The downside of freedom" . Defimedia. Le Defi. Retrieved 2018-03-09 .
^ "Nigeria's Boko Haram accused of killing MP Modu Bintube" . BBC News. October 17, 2011.
^ "Gunmen Assassinate Oyo Assembly Lawmaker, Gideon Aremu - 360Nobs.com" .
^ "Killed the Matabele God: Burnham, the American scout, may end uprising". New York Times . June 25, 1896. ISSN 0093-1179 .
^ Badat, Saleem (2013). The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid . BRILL . p. 24. ISBN 9789004247710 .
^ Todd, Judith Garfield (2007). Through the Darkness: A Life in Zimbabwe . Zebra Press. p. 209. ISBN 9781770220027 .
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