Influential Leaders Involved in the Decolonization of Africa

Louis Botha (1862 - 1919)

May 31, 1910

Botha, a solider and statesman, was appointed as the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa by the National Convention of 1910. In 1911, he established the South African Party and is known for one of the most important features of his administration, the “Natives’ Land Act of 1913.” This act sought to segregate land throughout the Union, laid down the basis for a system of “native reserves” for black South Africans, and began the policy of “influx controls” to reduce access to cities.

Haile Selassie (1892 - 1975)

Jan 31, 1942

Haile, the Emperor of Ethiopia, sought to modernize his country by bringing Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the United Nations. He was vital for his role in the establishment of the Organization of African Unity in 1963.

Ismail Al-Azhari (1900-1969)

Jan 1, 1956

Azhari, Sudananese statesman, strived for Sudan’s Independence and in 1952, was made the president of the National Unionist Party (NUP). On May 1955, he pledged to work for complete independence and as a result of his work, the country was granted Independence on January 1, 1956.

Muhammad V (1909-1961)

Mar 2, 1956

Muhammed V, the Sultan of Morocco, was responsible for securing the Moroccan Independence from French colonial rule. He ruled as king from 1957 to 1961. During World War II he supported the Allies, and in 1951, the French encouraged a tribal rebellion against Muhammed.

Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)

Mar 6, 1957

President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, was responsible for leading the Gold Coast’s drive for Independence from Britain. He was vital for his role in making Ghana a better place for citizens by establishing new roads, schools and health facilities. Also, under the policy of Africanization, Nkrumah created better career opportunities for Ghanaians.

General Charles De Gaulle (1890-1970)

Dec 21, 1958

De Gaulle, a French soldier, writer, statesman, and architect of France’s Fifth Republic, was the President of France. He played an important part in the decolonization of Africa as he granted independence to all 13 French African colonies, however, the Algerian War continued until 1962.

Modibo Keita (1915-1977)

Jun 20, 1960

The first president of Mali and socialist politician, Modibo Keita, was responsible for successfully campaigning for Sudan to become an automonous state within the French Community. On November 1958, Sudan gained it Republican status and on September 1960, under Keita’s presidency, the Congress of the ruling US-RIDA proclaimed the independent Republic of Mail.

Joseph Kasa Vubu (1910-1969)

Jun 30, 1960

Joseph Kasa-Vubu, the statesman and first president of the Independent Congo Republic, was a member of the powerful Bakongo (or Kongo), one of the largest ethnic groups in the country. In 1950, Kasa Vubu sought an Independent Congo with a federal structure that would ensure a certain measure of Bakongo autonomy.

Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961)

Jun 30, 1960

African nationalist leader, Patrice Lumumba was the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Upon his release from prison, in 1958 Lumumba grew more proactive in politics, and launched the Congolese National Movement alongside other Congolese leaders. Lumumba was for a unitary Congo, against division of the country along ethic or regional lines, and hence, he acted accordingly to his principles and beliefs.

Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)

Jul 20, 1961

Frantz Fanon, a West Indian Psychoanalyst and Philosopher, was known for his notion that the rise of corruption, ethnic division, racism and economic dependence on former colonial states resulted from the “mediocrity” of Africans elite leadership class. (No exact date could be pinpointed except year 1961)

Julius Nyerere (1922-1999)

Dec 9, 1961

President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, was the major force behind the organization of African Unity. With the sole purpose of attaining Independence in mind, he sought to hasten the process of emancipation. Thus, Nyerere joined the Tanganyika African Association and quickly became its president in 1953. However, Tanganyika became independent on December 9,1961 with Nyerere being the country's first Prime Minister.

Milton Obote (1924-2005)

Oct 9, 1962

Milton Obote, was the President of Uganda twice in his lifetime and he was also a politician who attained the prime ministerial position. Obote led his country to Independence in 1962. Some of his other accomplishments involved, while he resided in Kenya, working as a laborer, clerk and salesmen, he became involved in the independence movement and joined the Kenya African Union.

Jomo Kenyata (1891-1978)

Dec 12, 1963

Kenyata, an African statesman and nationalist, was the first prime minister/first president of Kenya. He helped to organize the fifth Pan-African Congress, which met in Manchester, England, on October 15-18, 1945. As a result, resolutions were passed and plans were discussed for the mass nationalist movements to demand independence from colonial rule. Hence, Kenya celebrated its Independence on December 12, 1963 and in 1964, the country becomes a one-party republic.

Kenneth Kaunda (1924 - present)

Oct 24, 1964

Kaunda was a politician who led Zambia into Independence in 1964 and served as the country’s president until 1991. He became the president of the new organization, African National Congress and skillfully used it to forge a militant policy against the British plan for a federation of the three central African colonies – Souther Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Kaunda was also responsible for negotiating futher constitutional advances, and in 1964, Zambia attained its Independence.

Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-1997)

Nov 24, 1965

Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, represented Lumumba in 1960, at the Brussels Round Table Conference on Congo Independence until the release of Lumumba, who had been jailed for his nationalist activities in the Congo. During the conference, Mobutu supported Lumumba’s proposals (which were adopted) for a strongly centralized state for the Independent Congo. Congo gained its Independence on June 30, 1960.

Jonas Savimbi (1934-2002)

Mar 13, 1966

Angolan politician, Jonas Savimbi, was the leader of a long continuing guerrilla insurgency against the post independence government of Angola. However, Savimbi was the only Angolan guerrilla leader who continued fighting within Angola until the nation reached Independence from Portugal in 1975. It was by this time he had expanded his initially small band of supporters into a guerrilla army numbering in the thousands.

Jose Eduardo Dos Santos (1942 - present)

Sep 10, 1979

Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, was a politican who became Angola’s President in 1979. In 1961, this Angolan leader and a militant nationalist, joined the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola; MPLA), which supported independence from Portugal. Dos Santos, went on to continue being president until 2012, when yet again, he secured another five years of governance over Angola.

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Apr 27, 1994

Mandela, a black nationalist and the first black president of South Africa, was vital for his role in helping the country’s sapartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule. In 1995, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), investigated human rights violations after apartheid was established and he also, introduced housing, education, and economic development initiative designed to improve the living standards of the country’s black population.