This is a list of notable people who have been assassinated in Africa.
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 117 BC | Hiempsal, co-ruler of Numidia | Hiempsal's death was ordered by his cousin, Jugurtha. | ||
| François Darlan, former Head of Government of Vichy France and High Commissioner of France in Africa | Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle | |||
| Larbi Ben M'Hidi, Algerian nationalist and FLN leader | Hanged by French Army officers under Paul Aussaresses; his death was initially passed off as a suicide. | |||
| Thrown from a building by French Army officers under Paul Aussaresses; at the time, his death was passed off as a suicide. | ||||
| Maurice Audin, Pied-noir and PC militant | ||||
| Mouloud Feraoun, writer | Organisation armée secrète | |||
| Gaston Marie Jacquier, Catholic bishop | Abdessalam Abdelkader | Stabbed in a crowded Algiers street while wearing full clerical attire. The assassin had a history of psychiatric problems, but was suspected by some to have been religiously motivated.[1] [2] [3] | ||
| Mustafa Bouyali, Islamic fundamentalist | Ambushed by Algerian security services. | |||
| Mohamed Boudiaf, Chairman of the High Council of State | Lembarek Boumaârafi | Shot at Annaba.[4] | ||
| Tahar Djaout, journalist, poet and author | Killed by the Armed Islamic Group. | |||
| Kasdi Merbah, former Prime Minister of Algeria | ||||
| Abdelkader Alloula, playwright | Killed by two members of the Islamic Front for Armed Jihad. | |||
| Cheb Hasni, singer | ||||
| Saïd Mekbel, journalist | Assassinated with a car bomb in Aïn Bénian. | |||
| Aboubakr Belkaid, former minister | ||||
| 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. | |||
| Pierre Lucien Claverie, Catholic bishop of Oran | ||||
| Ali Boucetta, Mayor of Algiers | ||||
| Abdelhak Benhamouda, trade unionist | ||||
| Lounès Matoub, Berberist singer | ||||
| 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. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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, founder and leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola | His death marked the end of the Angolan Civil War |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Sankara, Head of State of Burkina Faso | Killed in the 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaoré. | |||
| Norbert Zongo, journalist |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Rwagasore, Prime Minister of Burundi | Georges Kageorgis | |||
| Pierre Ngendandumwe, Prime Minister of Burundi[5] | ||||
| Joseph Bamina, Prime Minister of Burundi | Killed during the 1965 Burundian coup d'état attempt | |||
| April 29, | Ntare V Ndizeye, deposed King of Burundi | |||
| Melchior Ndadaye, President of Burundi, founder of the Burundi Workers' Party | Overthrown and killed in the 1993 Burundian coup d'état attempt | |||
| Ernest Kabushemeye, Minister for Mines and Energy | ||||
| Joachim Ruhuna, Roman Catholic archbishop of Gitega | ||||
| Kassi Manlan, World Health Organization representative | Murdered in a conspiracy after discovering that aid money was being diverted into private accounts. | |||
| Emmanuel Niyonkuru, Minister of Water and the Environment | Assassinated in Bujumbura. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruben Um Nyobé, anti-colonialist leader and founder of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon | Killed by the French Army | |||
| Félix-Roland Moumié, anti-colonialist leader of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon | Killed by the SDECE |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| François Tombalbaye, President of Chad | Killed during the 1975 Chadian coup d'état | |||
| Abbas Koty, rebel leader | ||||
| Idriss Déby, President of Chad | Killed in the 2021 Northern Chad offensive |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ali Soilih, former President of Comoros | Killed after being overthrown in a coup | |||
| Ahmed Abdallah, President of Comoros | Overthrown in a coup. | |||
| Combo Ayouba, army chief of staff and former interim head of state |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marien Ngouabi, President of the Congo | Barthélemy Kikadidi and others | Shot in Brazzaville.[7] | ||
| Émile Cardinal Biayenda, Roman Catholic archbishop of Brazzaville | Abducted and killed by soldiers | |||
| Alphonse Massamba-Débat, former President of the Congo | Killed for his alleged involvement in the murder of President Ngouabi | |||
| Angèle Bandou, former presidential candidate |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Émile Boga Doudou, Minister of State for the Interior and Decentralization | Killed in a coup that started the First Ivorian Civil War | |||
| Robert Guéï, former President of Ivory Coast. | Killed in a coup that started the First Ivorian Civil War | |||
| Rose Doudou Guéï, wife of Robert Guéï and former First Lady of Ivory Coast. | Killed in a coup that started the First Ivorian Civil War |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrice Lumumba, former Prime Minister of the Congo[8] | Soldiers of the State of Katanga with the involvement of Belgian officials | Sent to the breakaway region of Katanga to be killed after being ousted in a coup led by Joseph Mobutu during the Congo Crisis | ||
| Maurice Mpolo, former Minister of Interior, and associate of Lumumba | ||||
| Joseph Okito, Vice-President of the Senate and associate of Lumumba | ||||
| Philippe Bernard, Ambassador of France to Zaire | Killed during an army mutiny in Kinshasa | |||
| May 6, | Mahele Lieko Bokungu, Commanding General of the Forces Armées Zaïroises | Killed by Mobutu loyalists for attempting to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Laurent-Désiré Kabila during the First Congo War | ||
| Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Rashidi Muzele | Killed by one of his bodyguards | ||
| Luca Attanasio, Italian Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [9] | Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (suspected) | Killed in an ambush in Goma |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. The assassination of Amenemhat I is commonly cited as the first recorded political assassination in history. | |||
| 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 throat was cut deeply enough to strike bone, likely killing him immediately. 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. | ||
| Pompey the Great, Roman general and politician | Achillas, Lucius Septimius Salvius, and Julius Caesar | |||
| Al-Afdal Shahanshah, vizier of Fatimid Egypt | ||||
| Al-Amir bi-Ahkami l-Lah, Fatimid Caliph | ||||
| Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt | Baybars | |||
| Jean Baptiste Kléber, French general | Suleiman al-Halabi | |||
| Boutros Ghali, Prime Minister of Egypt | Ibrahim Nassif al-Wardani | |||
| Sir Lee Stack, Governor-General of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan | ||||
| Walter Edward Guinness, Lord Moyne, the UK's Minister Resident in the Middle East | Eliyahu Hakim, a member of Zionist group Lehi | |||
| Ahmed Maher Pasha, Prime Minister of Egypt[10] | Mustafa Essawy . | |||
| Amin Osman, Former minister of finance. | A group of Egyptian army officers including Anwar Sadat. | |||
| Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi, Prime Minister of Egypt[11] | Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan | |||
| Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood | ||||
| Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan | Shot by members of Black September during a visit to Cairo. | |||
| Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt | Khalid Islambouli | Shot while reviewing a military parade; see Assassination of Anwar El Sadat. | ||
| Rifaat al-Mahgoub, Speaker of the Egyptian parliament | ||||
| Farag Foda, politician and intellectual | Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya claimed responsibility for the attack. | |||
| Hisham Barakat, Prosecutor General | Killed in car bombing |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 17, | Ras Abebe Aragai, Prime Minister | Killed during a failed coup attempt | ||
| June 22, 2019 | General Se'are Mekonnen, Chief of General Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force | Killed during the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt | ||
| June 22, 2019 | Major General Gezae Abera, Aide to General Mekonnen | Killed during the Amhara Region coup d'état attempt | ||
| March 30, 2023 | Desalegn Bokonja, head of the Prosperity Party’s office in Nekemte | |||
| April 27, 2023 | Girma Yeshitila, head of the Prosperity Party in Amhara | |||
| May 8, 2023 | Omer Lemma, head of the Prosperity Party in Haruka Woreda, Afar Region |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 17, | Emmanuel Kotoka, member of the National Liberation Council and Chief of the Defence Staff | Killed during Operation Guitar Boy | ||
| June 30, | Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Justice of the High Court of Ghana | Abducted and killed along with two other justices by soldiers | ||
| June 30, | Frederick Poku Sarkodee, Justice of the High Court of Ghana | Abducted and killed along with two other justices by soldiers | ||
| June 30, | Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong, Justice of the High Court of Ghana | Abducted and killed along with two other justices by soldiers |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batista Tagme Na Waie, chief of staff of the army | ||||
| João Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea Bissau | Shot by soldiers during armed attack on his residence in Bissau in retaliation for the killing of Batista Tagme Na Waie | |||
| Baciro Dabó, former Interior Minister and presidential candidate | ||||
| Helder Proença, former Defense Minister |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pio Gama Pinto, journalist, anti-colonial activist and socialist legislator | ||||
| Tom Mboya, Minister of Economic Planning [12] | ||||
| March 2, | Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, Assistant Government Minister | |||
| January 3, | Joy Adamson, conservationist | |||
| August 20, | George Adamson, conservationist | |||
| Robert Ouko, Foreign Minister | Disappeared on February 12–13; found dead on February 16.[13] | |||
| Seth Sendashonga, former interior minister of Rwanda | ||||
| August 23, | John Anthony Kaiser, Roman Catholic priest | |||
| Oscar Kamau Kingara, human rights activist | ||||
| John Paul Oulo, human rights activist |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia | Killed in the 1980 Liberian coup d'état led by Samuel Doe | |||
| Samuel Doe, President of Liberia | Tortured and killed on the orders of Prince Johnson. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul Fatah Younis, commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Libyan Republic | Possibly security guards or members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade | |||
| Muammar Gaddafi, de facto head of state from 1969 to 2011 | Killed at the close of the First Libyan Civil War. See Death of Muammar Gaddafi | |||
| J. Christopher Stevens, United States Ambassador to Libya | Killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | |||
| Richard Ratsimandrava, President of Madagascar | Shot six days after taking power in military coup. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rampersad Surath, Political activist | ||||
| Robert Brousse and Jacques Beesoo, Political activist and policeman[14] in Trois Boutiques.[15] | ||||
| Fareed Muttur, Political activist (MMM) | ||||
| Azor Adelaide, Dock worker and political activist (MMM) | ||||
| Cyril de Guardia, Raymond Desvaux de Marigny and Ambicaduth Sooknundun (Medine Sugar Estate executives) | Sténio Hervel (alias Piou Piou) | Piou Piou Hervel murders | ||
| Babal Joomun, Zulfikar Bheeky and Yousouf Moorad Political activists (Labour Party) | Escadron de la mort | Gorah Issac murders |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Bahnini, former Prime Minister of Morocco | Killed during the 1971 Moroccan coup d'état attempt | |||
| Mohamed Oufkir, Minister of the Interior and Defense | Killed after launching the failed 1972 Moroccan coup d'état attempt against King Hassan II | |||
| Omar Benjelloun, socialist politician | Chabiba islamia |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eduardo Mondlane, anti-colonial activist and leader of the pro-independence FRELIMO movement | Killed by a parcel bomb | |||
| Ruth First, South African communist | Killed by a parcel bomb sent by South African Police | |||
| Carlos Cardoso, journalist | Nyimpine Chissano and Anibal dos Santos | Shot while investigating allegations of corruption in Mozambique's largest bank. Chissano and dos Santos were charged with orchestrating the murder. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemens Kapuuo, Herero chief and politician | ||||
| 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. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria | Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état | |||
| Ahmadu Bello, Premier of Northern Nigeria | Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état | |||
| Samuel Akintola, Premier of Western Nigeria | Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état | |||
| Festus Okotie-Eboh, Finance Minister of Nigeria | Killed during the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état | |||
| Adekunle Fajuyi, Military Governor of Western Nigeria | Killed during the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup led by Theophilus Danjuma. | |||
| Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Head of State of Nigeria | Killed during the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup | |||
| Murtala Mohammed, Head of State of Nigeria | Killed in an attempted coup led by Buka Suka Dimka. | |||
| Dele Giwa, journalist | ||||
| Kudirat Abiola, pro-democracy activist and wife of presidential candidate Moshood Abiola | ||||
| Bola Ige, Justice Minister | ||||
| Modu Bintube, Borno state legislator | Suspected to have been killed by Boko Haram militants.[16] | |||
| Gideon Aremu, Oyo State legislator and lawmaker.[17] |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa | Died in the aftermath of the Rucunshu Coup | |||
| Dian Fossey, primatologist | Possibly killed by gorilla poachers. | |||
| 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. See Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira. | |||
| Agathe Uwilingiyimana, Prime Minister of Rwanda | Killed during the Rwandan genocide | |||
| Joseph Kavaruganda, President of the Constitutional Court | Killed during the Rwandan Genocide | |||
| Faustin Rucogoza, Minister of Information | Killed during the Rwandan Genocide | |||
| Rosalie Gicanda, Queen Dowager of Rwanda | Killed during the Rwandan Genocide | |||
| Jean-Baptiste Habyalimana, Prefect of Butare Province and then the only Tutsi prefect in Rwanda | Killed during the Rwandan Genocide | |||
| André Kameya, journalist and Secretary-General of the Parti Libéral | Killed during the Rwandan Genocide |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kamal Al Din Salah, chairman of the UN Advisory Council on Italian Somaliland | Shot by a Somalian | |||
| Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, President of Somalia | Shot by one of his bodyguards, possibly for personal – rather than political – reasons | |||
| Salvatore Colombo, Roman Catholic bishop of Mogadishu | ||||
| Abdallah Isaaq Deerow, former acting President of Somalia | ||||
| Ali Said, Mogadishu police chief | ||||
| Omar Hashi Aden, security minister | Killed in the 2009 Beledweyne bombing, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. | |||
| Abdishakur Sheikh Hassan Farah, interior minister | Haboon Abdulkadir Hersi Qaaf, Farah's teenage niece | Killed in a suicide bomb attack; Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. | ||
| Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Waafow, mayor of Merca | Killed in a suicide bomb attack; Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaka, King of the Zulus | Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's half-brothers | |||
| Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa | 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. | ||
| Robert Smit, economist and parliamentary candidate for the National Party | ||||
| 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 of the South African Police. | |||
| Vernon Nkadimeng, anti-apartheid activist | ||||
| Dulcie September, head of the African National Congress in Paris | ||||
| David Webster, anthropologist | Civil Cooperation Bureau | |||
| Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party | Janusz Walus | |||
| Johan Heyns, prominent leader in the Dutch Reformed Church | ||||
| Mbongeleni Zondi, Zulu chieftain and politician |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleo A. Noel, Jr., US Chief of Mission, George Curtis Moore, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Guy Eid, Belgian chargé d'affaires | Taken hostage and assassinated by members of Black September; see Attack on the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum. | |||
| John Granville, diplomat for the United States Agency for International Development | ||||
| Khamis Abakar, Governor of West Darfur State | Rapid Support Forces (RSF) | Killed during the Battle of Geneina of the 2023 Sudan conflict |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambican independence leader and founder of FRELIMO | Killed by a parcel bomb | |||
| Abeid Karume, 1st President of Zanzibar and 1st Vice President of Tanzania | ||||
| David Sibeko, South African black nationalist |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvanus Olympio, first President of Togo | Killed in the 1963 Togolese coup d'état. | |||
| Tavio Amorin, leader of the Pan-African Socialist Party | Shot in Lomé on July 23, later died in a Paris hospital. |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khalil al-Wazir, military leader of the PLO | Shot by Israeli commandos in Tunis. | |||
| Salah Khalaf, deputy leader of the PLO | Killed in Tunis. | |||
| Chokri Belaid, Tunisian opposition leader | ||||
| Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian opposition leader |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benedicto Kiwanuka, former Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Uganda | ||||
| Janani Luwum, Anglican Archbishop of the Church of Uganda |
| Date | Victim(s) | Assassin(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mlimo, Ndebele religious leader | Frederick Russell Burnham, British Army scout | Mlimo's death effectively ended the Second Matabele War.[18] | ||
| Joe Gqabi, South African ANC activist | South African Defence Force | [19] [20] | ||
| Attati Mpakati, Malawian dissident | ||||
| Tonderai Ndira, member of the Movement for Democratic Change |
. The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid . . 2013 . 9789004247710 . 24 . Saleem Badat.
. Through the Darkness: A Life in Zimbabwe . Zebra Press . 2007 . 9781770220027 . 209 . Judith Todd.