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Political uncertainty in Gambia
02:52 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s decades-long grip on power in the southern African nation ended Tuesday with his resignation – but the continent still has a few leaders who’ve been in charge for nearly as long, or longer.

Seven of them have led for more than 30 years. They are:

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea) – 38 years

Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

Age: 75

In power since: August 3, 1979, when he toppled his uncle – an autocratic president who led the country after it gained independence from Spain in 1968 – in a military coup.

Current election rules: The president is elected in a majority popular vote for seven-year terms, though presidential and legislative elections since 1996 “have generally been labeled as flawed,” the CIA World Factbook says.

Jose Eduardo dos Santos (Angola) – 37 years

Angolan president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos

Age: 74

In power since: September 1979, when he was elected the ruling party’s leader upon the previous president’s death.

Current election rules: Under terms of a constitution approved in 2010, the leader of the party that wins a popular parliamentary vote is president for five years. Dos Santos’ party won elections in 2012, so under the new rules, he started the first of a possible two terms. The election was Angola’s third since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975, as it was often wracked by civil war.

Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) – 36 years

09 Robert Mugabe

Age: 92

In power since: April 1980, when his country gained independence after he coordinated a guerrilla war against white colonial rulers. He first was prime minister, then took the presidency in 1987 – elected by the national assembly – when a new constitution created the office to replace the prime minister’s office.

Current election rules: Five-year terms, no term limits. He has claimed victory in popular votes – sometimes highly controversially – in 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2013. He is the last living African leader who’s been in power continuously since his country’s independence.

Paul Biya (Cameroon) – 35 years

Paul Biya Cameroon

Age: 84

In power since: November 1982, when the then-prime minister succeeded a president who resigned.

Current election rules: Majority popular vote for seven-year terms. Last elected in October 2011, reportedly with 78% of the vote. No term limits.

Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Republic of Congo) – 33 years, nonconsecutive

Denis Sassou-Nguesso, president of the Republic of the Congo

Age: 73

In power since: It’s complicated. He first was president from 1979 to 1992, when he was defeated in an election. He returned to power in 1997 during a civil war, eventually standing for and winning a presidential election in 2002.

Current election rules: Majority popular vote. Up to three five-year terms, though a 2015 constitutional referendum allowed Sassou-Nguesso to forgo the limits, according to Freedom House, a US nonprofit that promotes democracy.

Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) – 31 years

Yoweri Museveni UN

Age: 73

In power since: January 1986, when Museveni, a guerrilla leader and former defense minister, ousted a military regime.

Current election rules: Majority popular vote for five-year terms, with no term limits. Museveni held the presidency for 10 years before he was chosen in the country’s first direct presidential election in 1996. After his re-election in 2001, Parliament removed presidential term limits in 2005. He was elected for a fifth term in February 2016.

King Mswati III (Swaziland) – 31 years

Swaziland's King Mswati III

Age: 49

In power since: April 1986, upon turning 18, nearly four years after the death of his father, the previous king.

No popular election for the king: Swaziland is Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy, which is hereditary. The country has an elected Parliament, and Mswati chooses a prime minster from among the elected members.