Gerontocracy
The history of leadership in post-independence Africa is replete with aged presidents clinging on to power by any means: altering constitutions, suspending constitutions, stealing elections, witchcraft etc. There are numerous examples. Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi lost power through elections at the age of 96 but did not even know anything about it because of advanced senile dementia. Mugabe, Robert Gabriel, the chronologically gifted nonagenarian, was still going strong at a grandfatherly 93 years of age at the time he removed by a most interesting type of coup led by a 75-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa who is now a spiritful 82! Paul Biya of Cameroon is still hanging on at 92. Houphouët-Boigny died in office at the age of 88. Hage Geingob, of Namibia, died in office last year at 82. The new Namibia leader, Nandi-Ndaitwah, is 72. Museveni of Uganda is a sprightly 80. Salva Kiir of South Sudan is 74 and Cyril Ramaphosa is 72 and Angola’s João Lourenço is 71. Kagame of Rwanda is 67, Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania is 65 and Malawi’s Chakwera is 69.
In the SADC region the spring chickens are Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia at 61, Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi at 57, and Mozambique’s Daniel Chapo at 48. The coup leaders in Africa are the saplings: Mali’s Assimi Goïta is 45, Guinea’s Mamady Doumbouya is also 45 and Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traore is 36.
What of the Western World? Trump is a dinosaur at 79 and Friedrich Merz of Germany is ancient at 69. Starmer of the UK is 58. Canada’s Justin Trudeau is 54, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón is 53, and Portugal’s Luís Montenegro is 52. Macron of France is 48, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni is 48.
Keep in mind the following:
- The median age in Western Europe is 43.4 years as of 2024. This means that half of the population is older than 43.4 years, and half is younger. The average age of the leaders is about 53 years.
- The median age in Africa south of the Sahara is approximately 20 years. The average age of the leaders is about 60 years, probably more.
Consequences of Geriatric Leadership
What people may underestimate are the consequences of having leaders who are too old. In Africa, culturally and traditionally, we still put a lot of faith in age. There was a very good reason in yonder years because most societies depended on orature rather than on the written language. The aged were the encyclopaedias of knowledge, history and wisdom. Many still are, but in this now highly digitalised and globalised world Africa needs a reset.
What is clear now is that there is a close correlation, not a causal effect, between the age of a leader and a country’s development trajectory.
In Western European countries the difference between the median age and a president or prime minister is 10, while in Africa it is 40. What this means is that in the Western world, people are led by leaders whose ages approximate to the average age of the citizens. In Africa, citizens are on average led by leaders whose ages are far higher than the vast majority of the population. There’s a term for this, gerontocracy.
The major implication is that in Africa, many of the old leaders are unlikely to be digitally native. Therefore, these leaders are unlikely to be as sophisticated and attuned to the modern way of living compared to the majority of their people and compared to the younger leaders in the West.
Tell me, who’s likely to be more attuned to the modern digital world, someone who first saw and used a computer at university (some ni wala!), or someone who started using a computer in lower primary school? That’s a no brainer, I think.
This may have implications for development. There’s so much digital information now, what with the social media explosion. Will an 80-year-old African president follow the fluctuating stock exchange figures, or will he just depend on his advisors? What of a digitally native 40-year-old African president? Will he be more tech savvy than an 80 something old president? Quite likely. It’s not to say an 80-year-old African president can’t lead his country into this new Tech Revolution. He or she probably can, but I would wager my money on a younger president!
The study of geriatrics – that is the study of ageing – has revealed that as one gets older, something happens in an area of the brain called the limbic system. The result is that older people sleep less than before, thus leading, in some, to lessening concentration and lessening of mental capacity during the daytime. Then the prevalence of all types of dementia or cognitive decline is higher with advancing age. Then the likelihood of age-related aches and pains become a daily distraction as the decades pile on. Besides, the stamina of a 90-year-old president — in all departments — cannot possibly be compared to that of a 45-year-old president. As a start, the former has diminished or sub-optimal testosterone levels with all its attendant manifestations. Everyone has heard of menopause, but few have heard of andropause, the equivalent in men. This is sometimes called manopause. This presents with diminishing physical strength, fatigue, mood swings, hot flashes – yes, hot flushes! – low libido, erectile dysfunction and in some, depression. This is part of ageing, and it makes a good case for having a younger head of state.
There is also usually a linear relationship between age and forgetfulness, expenditure on health, and time required to be off duty knackered or recuperating. The medical expenditure on the elderly can be upwards of 40 percent more than in the young. Given the propensity of African leaders to seek medical attention abroad, these medical bills can be very significant. It is no exaggeration to say that the opportunity cost of the total annual medical expenses on elderly African leaders is equivalent to several new schools or hospitals.
Finally, as everyone gets older, the chickens come home to roost. The sins of youth and young adulthood indulgence are now more likely to eventually catch up with the aged incumbent. These chickens coming home to roost include yesteryear’s all-night whiskey parties, other unmentionables and such like.
I am now in my very late 60s and I feel strongly that in this Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook age the future of African countries is with the youth. The future of Africa is not with living dinosaurs or those who still have fond memories of their youth in the Olduvai Gorge. Neither is the future of Africa with those who still carry romantic memories of One-Party Statism with its party is superior mentality. The future of Africa is also definitely not with leaders whose ascent to power was through AK47s and combat fatigues. NO!
African leaders talk the talk about handing over to the youth and the youth being the future who must be prepared to take over the reins of power. Few walk the talk.
The elephant in the room is: with a median age of 20, why do we have mostly geriatric presidents and prime ministers in Africa south of the Sahara?
Aikona, man, pass on the baton!
