Three African leaders who gave up power by choice before their term ended

On September 22, 2008, the South African parliament convened to accept the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki had officially stepped down on September 21 after calls by the ruling African National Congress for his resignation over allegations that he used the law-enforcement system to undermine Jacob Zuma’s chances of succeeding him. 

Photo: Wiki CC

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Interestingly, nine years later President Zuma would be forced out of the presidency due to corruption allegations.

Mbeki and Zuma are among African presidents who were forced to resign. Others include Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Burkina Faso’s Blaise Compaore,  Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi and Hosni Mubarak,  Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo, and Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh.

While all these presidents were forced out of power, some African presidents made a personal choice to resign from their country’s top job for one reason or another.

Continue reading to find out which African presidents resigned by choice.