List of African Presidents Who Have Been Defeated While in Power

Several sitting presidents in Africa have been defeated while trying to renew their tenure in office in recent years. The wave has spread across West Africa to the Southern part of the continent.

The development has attested to the fact that democracy has its feet in Africa and its survival is no longer under any threat. The voice of the people matters.

This is a list of powerful politicians who lost their power on the continent.

Malawi’s Lazarus Chakwera

President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, on Wednesday, September 24, conceded defeat in the ongoing presidential election in the Southern African country. Chakwera’s acceptance came hours before the official results of the election were due to be announced.

In the poll, the official results indicated that the former President Peter Mutharika, who was Chakwera’s predecessor, has been commanding the lead in the September presidential election.

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TRT Afrika reported that in sporting terms, this is an equaliser, because Chakwera came to power in 2020 after defeating Mutharika, who was the incumbent at the time. Mutharika’s past ascension to the presidency in 2014 was also interesting, having won elections against then incumbent Joyce Banda. In short, Mutharika defeated two incumbent presidents and was himself defeated once as an incumbent president who knew the future. It’s just dramatic.

Mahamudu Bawumia of Ghana

In West Africa, specifically Ghana, another interesting political event happened. Current President John Mahama made a rare return to power in January 2025 after winning an election against the candidate of the ruling NPP party, Mahamudu Bawumia, in late 2024.

Mahama of the National Democratic Congress, who previously served as president from 2012 to 2017, first lost the 2016 election and conceded defeat to then-opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, who then became president. The peaceful switch of power between Bibles on both occasions helped to reinforce Ghana’s reputation as a stable democracy.

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Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat in the 2015 presidential election to the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari emerged as the presidential candidate of the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC), which was a coalition of other regional political parties, including the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Interestingly, President Jonathan is being tipped to contest against Bola Tinubu, the current Nigerian president, who was instrumental in the defeat of the former president in the 2015 election. Will Jonathan also equalise like Chakwera of Malawi?

George Weir of Liberia

Liberian footballer turned politician, George Weir, lost the 2023 presidential elections as he sought a second term in office as president.

He accepted defeat and congratulated the winning opposition candidate, Joseph Boakai, who is now the president of Liberia.

Macky Sall of Senegal

In Senegal, then in command, President Macky Sall accepted defeat in the 2024 elections, handing power to Bassirou Diomaye Faye

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President Faye, who contested as the opposition presidential candidate just weeks after his release from jail, defeated the sitting president.

Adama Barrow in Gambia

Well, not all stories ended with handshakes. For example, in the Gambia in 2016, then President Yahya Jammeh retracted his acceptance of defeat to the then opposition candidate Adama Barrow.

He vowed not to hand over power to Barrow, but eventually did so in absentia after the regional bloc ECOWAS intervened.

Mokgweetsi Masisi of Btswana

In southern Africa, the current president, Duma Gideon Boko, came to power after defeating President Mokgweetsi Masisi in the 2024 elections.

Boko ended the nearly six decades of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).

Hery Rajaonarimampianina of Madagascar

In 2018, then-President Hery Rajaonarimampianina lost the election after receiving just 8.8% of the votes.

His vote was too little to even make it to the second round, which was eventually won by Andry Rajoelina, who is now in power.

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Source: Legit.ng