These are some of the West African leaders responsible for dragging their countries into an abyss of poverty and squalor.
Pretoria - African countries are generally recognised as having produced some of the worst leaders the world has ever seen, both during and after colonisation.
Before his death, he and his family embezzled over US$3 billion, most of it held in European banks and in the United States. Corruption watchdog Transparency International estimates that he stole as much as US$5 billion of public money during his years in power. In May this year, the US and the British channel island dependency Jersey repatriated more than US$300 million to the Nigerian government. This was just some of the funds stolen by Abacha.
According to human rights activists, Jammeh's two-decade rule was marked by arbitrary arrests, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. Witnesses have testified before an ongoing Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission about being forced to carry out summary executions at his behest. Before he could be extradited, he escaped and reappeared in Libya, where he formed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia , a militia group that invaded Liberia in late 1989. Taylor’s NPFL forces took the country's capital Monrovia in 1990. Doe, along with more than 200,000 people were killed during Taylor's invasion, with the violence spilling over into Sierra Leone.
He was charged in the International Criminal Court near the Hague with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Taylor denied the accusations, but 115 witnesses, including victims of rape and mutilation, testified against him. In May 2012 he was sentenced to 50 years in prison and is serving his time in a British prison by agreement.
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