“African Presidents Who Were Killed By Their Own Bodyguards”
These four African presidents were assassinated by members of their own security details while still in office.
1. Abdirashid Ali Shermarke (Somalia)
He was Somalia’s first prime minister from 1960 to 1964 and its second president from 1967 until his assassination.
On Wednesday, October 15, 1969, while paying an official visit to the northern town of Las Anod during a severe drought, he was shot at close range with an automatic rifle by one of his own bodyguards outside a guesthouse. Six days later, Major General Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in a bloodless military coup.
2. Mohamed Boudiaf (Algeria).
Serving as Chairman of the High Council of State (Algeria’s acting head of state), Boudiaf was delivering a televised speech at a cultural centre in Annaba when a member of his protective detail, Second Lieutenant Lambarek Boumaarafi, attacked him with a grenade and shot him, killing him during the event.
3. Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (Niger).
Maïnassara was killed by soldiers from his own Presidential Guard at the airport in Niamey on April 9, 1999, as he prepared to board a helicopter. The government initially described his death as an “unfortunate accident” before Presidential Guard commander Major Daouda Malam Wanké took over as transitional head of state.
4. Laurent-Désiré Kabila (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Kabila was shot multiple times at point-blank range in his office at the Palais de Marbre in Kinshasa by one of his bodyguards, identified as Rashidi Kasereka.
The assailant was killed by other guards shortly afterward, and Kabila’s son, Joseph Kabila, assumed the presidency days later.