The former South African President Jacob Zuma handed himself over to the police after he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment becomes the latest African leader to be jailed.
Below is an extended list of all the major leaders who were jailed after completing their term in office:
Name | Country | Date of birth | Official positions | Year of Sentence | Date of death |
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma | South Africa | 1942-04-12 | President (2009-2018) | 2021 | Living |
Alphonse Massamba-Débat | Congo | 1921-2-11 | President of Republic of the Congo (1963-1968) | 1977 | 25-3-1977 (Executed) |
Ali Osman Taha | Sudan | 1944-01-01 | Vice President (2011-2013, 1998-2005) | 2019 to present | Living |
Baghdadi Mahmudi | Libya | 1945 | Prime Minister (2006-2011) | 2011 to present | Living |
Banana, Canaan | Zimbabwe | 1936-03-05 | President (1980–1987) | 1997 to 2001 | 2003-11-10 |
Ben Bella, Ahmed | Algeria | 1916-12-25 | President (1963–1965) | 1965 to 1980 (house arrest) | 2012-04-11 |
Bokassa, Jean-Bédel | Central African Republic | 1921-02-22 | Emperor (1976–1979), President (1966–1976) | 1986 to 1993 (pardoned) | 1996-11-03 |
Carlos Correia | Guinea-Bissau | 1933-11-06 | Prime Minister (2015-2016, 2008-2009, 1997-1998, 1991-1994) | 1999 to 2003 | Living |
Cassim Chilumpha | Malawi | 1959-11-29 | Vice President (2004-2009) | 2006 to present | Living |
Chihana, Chakufwa | Malawi | 1939-04-23 | Vice President (2003-2004, 1994-1996) | 1992 to 1993, 1970 to 1975 | 2006-06-12 |
Chiluba, Frederick | Zambia | 1943-04-30 | President (1991-2002) | 2003 to 2009 | 2011-06-18 |
Diya, Oladipo | Nigeria | 1944-04-03 | Vice President (1993-1997) | 1997 to 1998 | Living |
Dorda, Abuzed | Libya | 1944-04-04 | Prime Minister (1990-1994) | 2011 to present | Living |
Ebeid, Atef | Egypt | 1932-04-14 | Prime Minister (1999-2004) | 2012 to 2013 | 2014-09-12 |
Muhammad Egal | Somali Republic | 1928-08-15 | Prime Minister (1967-1969) | 1969 to 1976, 1978 to 1985 | 2003-05-03 |
Ephraïm Inoni | Cameroon | 1947-08-16 | Prime Minister (2004-2009) | 2012 to present | Living |
Eugene Koffi Adoboli | Togo | 1934-10-03 | Prime Minister (1999-2000) | 2011 to 2016 | Living |
Faustino Imbali | Guinea-Bissau | 1956-05-01 | Prime Minister (2001) | 2009 to present | Living |
Foday Sankoh | Sierra Leone | 1937-10-17 | Vice President (1999-2000) | 2000 to 2003 | 2003-07-29 |
Frédéric Bamvuginyumvira | Burundi | 1961-06-24 | Vice President (1998-2001) | 2013 | Living |
Gilbert Aké | Cote D’Ivoire | 1956 | Prime Minister (2010-2011) | 2011 to 2012 | Living |
Gregoire Kayibanda | Rwanda | 1924-5-1 | President of Rwanda (1961-1973) | 1973 to 1976 (house arrest) | 15-12-1976 |
Guilherme Posser da Costa | São Tomé and Príncipe | 1953 | Prime Minister (1999-2001) | 2004 to 2007 | Living |
Gyude Bryant | Liberia | 1949-01-17 | President (2003-2006) | 2007 to 2009 | 2014-04-16 |
Habib Bourguiba | Tunisia | 1903-08-03 | President (1957-1987), Prime Minister (1956-1957) | 1987 to 2000 (House Arrest) | 2000-04-06 |
Hastings Banda | Malawi | 1898-02-15 | President (1966-1994) | 1995 | 1997-11-25 |
Haile Selassie | Ethiopia | 1892-07-23 | Emperor (1930–1974) | 1974-1975 (house arrest) | 1975-08-27 |
Hama Amadou | Niger | 1949 | Prime Minister (2000-2007, 1995-1996) | 2008 to present | Living |
Hamad, Seif Sharif | Tanzania Zanzibar | 1943-10-22 | Vice President (2010-present), Chief Minister (1984-1988) | 2000 to 2003, 1988 to 1991 | Living |
Habré, Hissène | Chad | 1942-09-13 | Prime Minister (1978–1979), President (1982–1990) | 2005 to 2013 (house arrest), 2013 to Present | Living |
Hamani Diori | Niger | 1916-06-06 | President (1960-1974) | 1980 to 1987 (House Arrest) | 1989-04-23 |
Hosni Mubarak | Egypt | 1928-05-04 | President (1981-2011) | 2011 to 2017 | 2020-02-25 |
Idiagbon, Tunde | Nigeria | 1943-09-12 | Vice President (1983-1985) | 1985 to 1988 | 1999-03-24 |
Idrissa Seck | Senegal | 1960-08-09 | Prime Minister (2002-2004) | 2005 to 2006 | Living |
Jean-Baptiste Bagaza | Burundi | 1946-08-29 | President (1976-1987) | 1997 to 2016 | 2016-05-04 |
Jean Kambanda | Rwanda | 1955-10-19 | Prime Minister (1994) | 1997 to present | Living |
Jean-Pierre Bemba | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1962-11-04 | Vice President (2003-2006) | 2008 to 2018 | Living |
Joachim Yhombi-Opango | Republic of the Congo | 1939-01-12 | President (1977-1979), Prime Minister (1993-1996) | 1987 to 1990, 2001 to 2007 (house arrest) | 2020-03-30 |
Júnior, Carlos Gomes | Guinea-Bissau | 1949-12-19 | Prime Minister (2009-2012, 2004-2005) | 2012 | Living |
Kenan Evren | Turkey | 1917-07-17 | President (1980-1989) | 2012 to 2015 | 2015-05-09 |
Kaunda, Kenneth | Zambia | 1924-04-28 | President (1964–1991) | 1997 to 1998 | 17 June 2021 |
Keita, Modibo | Mali | 1915-06-04 | President (1960–1968) | 1968 to 1977 (house arrest) | 1977-05-16 |
Kadege, Alphonse-Marie | Burundi | Unknown | Vice President (2003-2004) | 2004 to 2007 | Living |
Benedicto Kiwanuka | Uganda | 1922-5-8 | Prime Minister (1962) | 1968 to 1970 1972 | 1972-9-22 (murdered) |
Kodjo, Agbéyomé | Togo | 1954-10-12 | Prime Minister (2000-2002) | 2002 to present (International Order of Arrest Issued) | Living |
Kumba Ialá | Guinea-Bissau | 1953-03-15 | President (2000-2003) | 2003 to 2004 (House Arrest) | 2014-04-04 |
Laurent Gbagbo | Cote D’Ivoire | 1945-05-31 | President (2000-2011) | 2011 to 2019 | Living |
Pasteur Biziungu | Rwanda | 1950 | President (1994-2000) | 2001 to 2004 (House Arrest) 2004 – 2007 (prison) | Living |
P. W. Botha | South Africa | 1916-01-12 | President (1984-1989), Prime Minister (1978-1984) | 1998 to 1999 (suspended sentence and won appeal in June of 1999) | 2006-10-31 |
Marc Ravalomanana | Madagascar | 1949-12-12 | President (2004-2009) | 2012 to 2014 | Living |
Macías Nguema, Francisco | Equatorial Guinea | 1924-01-01 | President (1968–1979) | 1979 | 1979-09-29 (executed) |
Mame Madior Boye | Senegal | 1940 | Prime Minister (2001-2002) | 2008 to 2009 (Order of Arrest Issued) | Living |
Massemba-Débat, Alphonse | Congo, Republic of the | 1921 | President (1963–1968), Prime Minister (1963) | 1977 | 1977-03-25 (executed) |
Miguel Abia Biteo Boricó | Equatorial Guinea | 1961-01-11 | Prime Minister (2004-2006) | 2007 to 2012 | 2012-12-06 |
Michel Micombero | Burundi | 1940-08-26 | President (1966-1976), Prime Minister (1966) | 1976 to 1977 | 1983-07-16 |
Mohamed Abu al-Qasim al-Zwai | Libya | 1942-05-14 | President (2010-2011) | 2011 to present | Living |
Mohamed Abdou Madi | Comoros | Unknown | Prime Minister (1994) | 2008 to present | Living |
Mohamed Morsi | Egypt | 1951-08-08 | President (2012-2013) | 2013 to 2019 | 2019-06-17 |
Mohamed Tahir Ayala | Sudan | 1950-51 | Prime Minister (2019) | 2019 to present | Living |
Mohamoud Omar, Abdi | Somali Region | Unknown | President (2005-2018) | 2018 to present | Living |
Mugabe, Robert | Zimbabwe | 1924-02-21 | President (1987-2017), Prime Minister (1980-1987) | 2017 (House Arrest) | 2019-09-06 |
Muhammad VIII al-Amin | Tunisia | 1881-09-04 | King (1956-1957), Bey of Tunis (1943-1956) | 1961 | 1962-09-30 |
Muluzi, Bakili | Malawi | 1942-03-17 | President (1994-2004) | 2009 to present (Indictment), May 2008 | Living |
Nazif, Ahmed | Egypt | 1952-07-08 | Prime Minister (2004-2011) | 2011 to 2016 | Living |
Olusegun Obasanjo | Nigeria | 1937-03-07 | President (1999-2007, 1976-1979), Vice President (1975-1976) | 1993 to 1998 | Living |
Omar Al-Bashir | Sudan | 1944-01-01 | President (1989-2019) | 2019 to present | Living |
Ouyahia, Ahmed | Algeria | 1952-07-02 | Prime Minister (2017-2019, 2008-2012, 2003-2006, 1995-1998) | 2019 to present | Living |
Pascal Affi N’Guessan | Ivory Coast | 1953-01-03 | Prime Minister (2000-2003) | 2011 to 2012 | Living |
Qandil, Hesham | Egypt | 1962-09-17 | Prime Minister (2012-2013) | 2013 to 2014 | Living |
Raimundo Pereira | Guinea-Bissau | 1956-08-28 | President (2012, 2009) | 2012 | Living |
Riek Machar | Sudan South Sudan | 1950 | Vice President (2016, 2005-2013) | 2017 to 2019 | Living |
Sambi, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed | Comoros | 1958-06-05 | President (2006-2011) | 2018 to present | Living |
Sanhá, Artur | Guinea-Bissau | 1965 | Prime Minister (2003-2004) | 2005 to present | Living |
Sellal, Abdelmalek | Algeria | 1948-08-01 | Prime Minister (2014-2017, 2012-2014) | 2019 to present | Living |
Seyni Oumarou | Niger | 1951-08-01 | Prime Minister (2007-2009) | July 29th to August 2nd 2010 | Living |
Shehu Musa Yar’Adua | Nigeria | 1943-02-05 | Vice President (1976-1979) | 1995 to 1997 | 1997-12-08 |
Sidya Touré | Guinea | 1945 | Prime Minister (1996-1999) | 2004 | Living |
Soilih, Ali | Comoros | 1937-01-07 | Head of State (1976-1978) | May 13th to 29th 1978 | 1978-05-29 |
Souaré, Ahmed Tidiane | Guinea | 1951 | Prime Minister (2008) | 2008 to present | Living |
Souley Abdoulaye | Niger | 1965 | Prime Minister (1994-1995) | May to August 1999 | Living |
Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga | Mali | 1954-06-08 | Prime Minister (2017-present) | 2012 to 2013 | Living |
Taylor, Charles | Liberia | 1948-01-28 | President (1997-2003) | 2006 to present | Living |
Tandja, Mamadou | Niger | 1938 | President (1999-2010) | January to May 2010 (House Arrest) | Living |
Tom Thabane | Lesotho | 1939-05-28 | Prime Minister (2017-2020, 2012-2015, 2017-2020) | 2020 to present (Indictment) | Living |
Traoré, Moussa | Mali | 1936-09-25 | President (1968–1991) | 1992 to 2002 (death sentence commuted) | 2020-9-15 |
Tshibala, Bruno | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1956-02-20 | Prime Minister (2017-2019) | October to November 2016 | Living |
Youcef Yousfi | Algeria | 1941-10-02 | Prime Minister (2014) | 2019 to present | Living |
Jacob Zuma | South Africa | 1942-04-12 | President (2009-2018) | 2021 | Living |