14 FACTS
Exit Dos Santos & Mugabe
A more promising future for democracy in Angola and Zimbabwe ?
In recent months , the African continent has witnessed several surprising political shake-ups . Two of the world ’ s longest-serving presidents — José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe — both resigned in late 2017 , the former bowing to pressure to step aside and the latter under the duress of what has been called a bloodless coup . And in February of this year , the scandal-plagued president of South Africa , Jacob Zuma , resigned following a vote of no-confidence from his own party . All three leaders had risen to power with popular support resulting from the roles they played in their respective countries ’ liberation wars ; all three also presided over contested political systems marked by accusations of corruption and suppression of opposition . While it may be too early to declare the end of an era — in all three countries , though the leader in question is out , their political party remains in power — such events may signal a changing landscape for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa . In what follows , we reflect more closely on the rise and fall of dos Santos and Mugabe , and consider the legacy of these two leaders who both ruled for nearly forty years .
Exchange to change June 2018
José Eduardo dos Santos , President of Angola 1979-2017
Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975 , only to be plunged into a decades-long civil war . The conflict was between the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA ), which had gained control of the country upon independence , and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( UNITA ), a rebel group led by Jonas Savimbi . The civil war lasted until Savimbi ’ s death in 2002 and had a devastating effect on the country ’ s social , political , and economic development .
Dos Santos rose through the ranks of the MPLA during the struggle for liberation against Portugal in the 60s and early 70s , even though he spent most of this period in exile . When
Angola ’ s first president , Agostinho Neto , died from cancer in 1979 , dos Santos was chosen by the MPLA to succeed him . Allegedly , the MPLA selected him as a compromise ; he was neither too radical nor too conservative and known for being mild-mannered , which gave the impression that he could be easily manipulated by party elders 1 . Despite his lack of charisma , dos Santos quickly consolidated power — and held on to it for thirtyeight years .
These thirty-eight years witnessed the rise of Angola ’ s spectacular natural resource wealth , mainly in diamonds and oil . This fueled economic growth and turned Luanda into one of the world ’ s most expensive cities . Yet in a classic ‘ resource curse ’ scenario , much of Angola ’ s resource wealth was not distributed equitably across the population . At the same time , the civil war displaced nearly one-third of the population , many of whom fled the fighting in the countryside to resettle in increasingly overcrowded cities . At the end of the war in 2002 , dos Santos embarked on a massive reconstruction effort to rebuild the country ’ s infrastructure . Western donors were reluctant to offer funding due to the lack of transparency and high level of corruption , while the Angolan government would not accept the imposition of any conditionalities , leading to an impasse . The rise of China on the international scene provided a solution , in the form of a ‘ resourcesfor-infrastructure deal ’ . Throughout