Dictatorland

September 3, 2018
In this colorful and brutal history, British journalist Kenyon (I Am Justice: A Journey out of Africa) explores the stubborn hold on power of seven kleptocratic postcolonial African leaders: the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko (ruled 1965–1997); Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe (1980–2017); Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi (1969–2011); Nigeria’s Sani Abacha (1993–1998); Equatorial Guinea’s Obiang Nguema (since 1979); Ivory Coast’s Felix Houphuet-Boigny (1960–1993); and Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki (since 1993). Kenyon tells how these often tyrannical leaders accumulated and exploited their countries’ vast mineral wealth, which partially explains their ability to buy local support and to prevail for as long as they have. The first of four sections focuses on gold and diamonds, the second on oil, and the third on cocoa. Kenyon recounts how multinational corporations desperate for these commodities turned a blind eye to human rights abuses, as did Western governments fearful of Soviet influence during the Cold War. The book’s inclusion of Eritrea’s president Afwerki in a fourth section subtitled “A Modern Slavery” is puzzling, because no valuable natural resource explains his forceful grip on the country. It is unclear which of these countries Kenyon has visited, but his prose is so artfully descriptive that readers will feel like they are on the ground alongside him. For readers unfamiliar with the ins and outs of African politics, this will be illuminating.