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, senior figure of Vichy France Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
March 4, 1957 Larbi Ben M'Hidi, Algerian nationalist and FLN leader (not sure) Hanged by French Army officers under Paul Aussaresses; at the time, his death was passed off as a suicide.
March 23, 1957 Larbi Tbessi, Nationalist and Association of Algerian Muslim Ulema president 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
February 3, 1987 Mustafa Bouyali, Islamic fundamentalist Ambushed by Algerian security services.
June 29, 1992 Mohamed Boudiaf, Chairman of High Council of State Lembarek Boumaârafi Shot at Annaba.[1]
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, politician
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
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
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
November 2, 1992 Jeremias Chitunda, Vice President of UNITA Killed by government troops as part of the Halloween Massacre.
November 2, 1992 Elias Salupeto Pena, UNITA senior advisor Killed by government troops as part of the Halloween Massacre.
February 22, 2002 Jonas Savimbi, Military Leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola

Benin
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
June 20, 1975 Michel Aikpé, government minister

Burkina Faso
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
October 15, 1987 Thomas Sankara, Head of State of Burkina Faso Killed in a coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaoré.
December 13, 1998 Norbert Zongo, journalist

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[2]
September 30, 1965 Joseph Bamina, Prime Minister of Burundi
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 a military coup.
March 11,1995 Ernest Kabushemeye, government minister
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 the early hours of January 1, 2017 in Bujumbura.

Cameroon
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
September 13, 1958 Ruben Um Nyobé, leader of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon

Central African Republic
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
December 4, 1996[3] Christophe Grelombe, government minister

Chad
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
April 13, 1975 François Tombalbaye, President of Chad
October 22, 1993 Abbas Koty, rebel leader

Comoros
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
May 29, 1978 Ali Soilih, former President of Comoros
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
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
March 18, 1977 Marien Ngouabi, President of the Congo Barthélemy Kikadidi and others Shot in Brazzaville.[4]
March 23,1977 Émile Cardinal Biayenda, Roman Catholic archbishop of Brazzaville
August 28, 2004 Angèle Bandou, former presidential candidate

Côte d'Ivoire
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
September 19, 2002 Émile Boga Doudou, government minister

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
January 17, 1961 Patrice Lumumba, former Prime Minister of the Congo[5] Executed by firing squad.
January 17, 1961 Maurice Mpolo, former Minister of Interior, and associate of Lumumba[4]
January 17, 1961 Joseph Okito, Senate Vice-President and associate of Lumumba[5]
May 6, 1997 Mahele Lieko Bokungu, military figure
January 16, 2001 Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo[4] Rashidi Muzele, one of Kabila's bodyguards
February 22, 2021 Luca Attanasio, Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [6] Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (suspected)

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.
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's throat was cut in the course of the assassination. 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
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[7] Mustafa Essawy
December 28, 1948 Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi, Prime Minister of Egypt[8] 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.[4]
October 6, 1981 Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt Khalid Islambouli Shot while reviewing a military parade;[4] see Assassination of Anwar El Sadat.
October 13, 1990 Rifaat al-Mahgoub, speaker of Egyptian parliament
June 8, 1992 Farag Foda, Egyptian politician and intellectual Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya claimed responsibility for the attack.

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
June 22, 2019 General Se'are Mekonnen, Chief of army of the National Defense of Ethiopia.
June 22, 2019 Major General Gezae Abera

The Gambia
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
December 16, 2004 Deyda Hydara, journalist

Ghana
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
April 17, 1967 Emmanuel Kotoka, military figure

Guinea
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
January 20, 1973 Amílcar Cabral, Pan-African intellectual Inocêncio Kani Killed in Conakry.

Guinea-Bissau
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
March 1, 2009 Batista Tagme Na Waie, chief of staff of the army
March 2, 2009 João Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea Bissau Shot by soldiers during armed attack on his residence in Bissau.
June 5, 2009 Baciro Dabó, government minister and independent presidential candidate
June 5, 2009 Helder Proença, former government minister

Kenya
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
February 25, 1965 Pio Gama Pinto, socialist politician
July 5, 1969 Tom Mboya, Kenyan Minister of Economic Planning and politician[9]
March 2, 1975 Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, Kenyan politician
January 3, 1980 Joy Adamson, conservationist
August 20, 1989 George Adamson, conservationist
February 13, 1990 Robert Ouko, Foreign Minister of Kenya Disappeared on February 12–13; found dead on February 16.[10]
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

{dts June 10, 2012,cabinet minister

Liberia
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
April 12, 1980 William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia Killed in military coup.[4]
September 9, 1990 Samuel Doe, President of Liberia Tortured and killed on the orders of Prince Johnson.

Libya
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
July 28, 2011 Abdul Fatah Younis, commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Libyan Republic Perpetrators unknown, possibly security guards or members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade
October 20, 2011 Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's de facto head of state from 1969 to 2011 See Death of Muammar Gaddafi
September 12, 2012 J. Christopher Stevens, United States Ambassador

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.[4]

Malawi
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
February 3, 1915 John Chilembwe, anti-colonial leader

Mauritania
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
May 12, 1905 Xavier Coppolani, French governor

Mauritius
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
October 3, 1951 Rabia Mokadam Noël Jérôme Juillet (Pic Pac), France Cangy (Le Roi) and Paul Célestin (Le Fou) News article
October 3, 1951 Jaimuddin Mokadam Noël Jérôme Juillet (Pic Pac), France Cangy (Le Roi) and Paul Célestin (Le Fou) News article
1965 Rampersad Surath, Political activist (Labour)
1965 Robert Brousse and Jacques Beesoo, Political activist and policeman[11] in Trois Boutiques.[12]
1971 Fareed Muttur, Political activist (MMM)
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
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
1971 Ahmed Bahnini, former prime minister
1972 Mohamed Oufkir, government minister
1975 Omar Benjelloun, socialist politician Chabiba islamia

Mozambique
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
February 3, 1969 Eduardo Mondlane, leader of the independence FRELIMO movement
1982 Ruth First, South African communist
November 22, 2000 Carlos Cardoso, Mozambican journalist Nyimpine Chissano and Anibal dos Santos Shot while investigating allegations of corruption in Mozambique's largest bank. Nyimpine Chissano and Anibal dos Santos were charged with orchestrating the murder.

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
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
April 9, 1999 Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, President of Niger Ambushed by soldiers.[4]

Nigeria
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
January 15, 1966 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria Killed in a military coup.
January 15, 1966 Ahmadu Bello, Premier of Northern Nigeria Killed in a military coup.
January 15, 1966 Samuel Akintola, Premier of Western Nigeria Killed in a military coup.
1966 Festus Okotie-Eboh, government minister
July 29, 1966 Adekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of Western Nigeria Killed in a coup led by Theophilus Danjuma.
July 29, 1966 Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Head of State of Nigeria Killed in a coup led by Theophilus Danjuma.
February 13, 1976 Murtala Mohammed, Head of State of Nigeria[4] Killed in an attempted coup led by Buka Suka Dimka.
October 19, 1986 Dele Giwa, journalist
1996 Kudirat Abiola
December 23, 2001 Bola Ige, justice minister of Nigeria
October 16, 2011 Modu Bintube, Borno state legislator Suspected to have been killed by Boko Haram militants.[13]
July 2, 2016 Gideon Aremu, Oyo state legislator and lawmaker. Under investigation.[14]

Rwanda
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
1896 King Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa
December 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.[4] See Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira.
April 7, 1994 Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Prime Minister of Rwanda Killed one day after the Rwandan genocide began.

Senegal
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
February 3, 1967 Demba Diop, government minister and mayor Abdou N'Daffa Faye

Somalia
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
October 15, 1969 Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, President of Somalia Shot by one of his bodyguards, possibly for personal – rather than political – reasons.
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.

South Africa
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
1828 Shaka, king of the Zulus Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's half-brothers
September 6, 1966 Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa[4] 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.
1977 Robert Smit
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.
May 21, 1985 Vernon Nkadimeng, South African dissident
March 29, 1988 Dulcie September, head of the African National Congress in Paris
1989 David Webster, anthropologist Civil Cooperation Bureau
April 10, 1993 Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party Janusz Walus Anti-Communist killing.
November 5, 1994 Johan Heyns, prominent leader in the Dutch Reformed Church
January 22, 2009 Mbongeleni Zondi, South African 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[4] 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

Tanzania
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
1969 Eduardo Mondlane, founder of FRELIMO
April 7, 1972 Abeid Karume, 1st President of Zanzibar and 1st Vice President of Tanzania
1979 David Sibeko, black nationalist

Togo
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
January 13, 1963 Sylvanus Olympio, first president of independent Togo Killed in the 1963 Togolese coup d'état.[5]
July 29, 1992 Tavio Amorin, socialist leader Shot in Lomé on July 23, later died in a Paris hospital.

Tunisia
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
April 16, 1988 Khalil al-Wazir, military leader of the PLO Shot by Israeli commandos in Tunis.[4]
January 14, 1991 Salah Khalaf, deputy leader of the PLO Killed in Tunis.
February 6, 2013 Chokri Belaid, Tunisian opposition leader
July 25, 2013 Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian opposition leader

Uganda
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
September 22, 1972 Benedicto Kiwanuka, Chief Justice of Uganda
February 17, 1977 Janani Luwum, Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire from 1974 until 1977

Western Sahara
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
1970 Mohamed Bassiri, Sahrawi leader and journalist "Disappeared" in June 1970, in El Aaiún; reportedly executed by the Spanish Legion.

Zambia
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
March 18, 1975 Herbert Chitepo, Zimbabwean nationalist leader Hugh Hind

Zimbabwe
Date Victim(s) Assassin(s) Notes
1896 Mlimo, the Ndebele religious leader Frederick Russell Burnham, British Army scout Mlimo's death effectively ended the Second Matabele War.[15]
1983 Attati Mpakati, Malawian dissident
May 2008 Tonderai Ndira, member of the Movement for Democratic Change

See also

References
  1. "Historic Assassinations Since 1865," The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004, p156 (World Almanac 2004)
  2. "Chief Political Assassinations Since 1865," The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1967, p257 (World Almanac 1967)
  3. "explaining the conflict in central african republic". Epiphany.
  4. World Almanac 2004, p156
  5. World Almanac 1967, p257
  6. 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.
  7. "Assassinations and Political Murders," 20th Century Timeline (Griesewood & Dempsey, Ltd., 1985) (Crescent Books, 1985) [20th Century Timeline], p119
  8. 20th Century Timeline, p120
  9. "Historic Assassinations Since 1865," The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1982 (World Almanac 1982), p750
  10. 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.
  11. Sivaramen, Nad. "Histoire Vivante". L'Express. Retrieved 2018-01-28.
  12. Li Ching Hum, Philip (2018-03-09). "The downside of freedom". Defimedia. Le Defi. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  13. "Nigeria's Boko Haram accused of killing MP Modu Bintube". BBC News. October 17, 2011.
  14. "Gunmen Assassinate Oyo Assembly Lawmaker, Gideon Aremu - 360Nobs.com".
  15. "Killed the Matabele God: Burnham, the American scout, may end uprising". New York Times. June 25, 1896. ISSN 0093-1179.
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