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The thing about Africa is that, although it might look homogenous from the outside, it's home to dozens of ethnic and cultural groups that really don't get along. So it should come as no surprise that the warring nations of Africa have produced some of the toughest, most frightening military leaders ever. Here are the ten scariest African warlords of all time.
Idi Amin
When you earn a nickname like "The Butcher," you don't have a reputation for gentleness. In 1971, Idi Amin seized power in Uganda with a military coup and proceeded to drive the country into a hellhole of violence and corruption. Amin set out on a program of ethnic cleansing against the Acholi and Lango people, and can be held responsible for over half a million civilian deaths during his eight year rule. In 1976, Amin announced his intentions to reclaim parts of Kenya and Sudan, claiming that they were historically Ugandan. Needless to say, Kenya didn't take this well and mobilized troops along the border. Amin was deposed in 1979 and lived the last few years of his life in Saudi Arabian exile.
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Stuart Price/AP Photo2 of 10
Joseph Kony
Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony came to the world's attention in 2012 when a video aimed at educating the world about his actions went viral. The creators of the video were soon revealed to be flim-flam men themselves, but Kony's actions are horrific enough to earn him a place on this list. As leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a guerilla group working to "purify" Uganda and turn it into a theocracy, Kony recruited thousands of children and trained them to fight, telling them that a cross drawn on their chests in oil would make them bulletproof. His army is notorious for attacks on civilian populations, massacring multitudes at concerts and other gatherings.
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David Guttenfelder/AP Photo3 of 10
General Butt Naked
Born Joshua Milton Blahyi, the crazed fighter who would become General Butt Naked was one of the most feared combatants in the Liberian civil war of the 1990s. A member of the Sarpo tribe, Blahyi claims that the Devil appeared to him during a ritual and told him he was destined to become a great warrior, but he needed to sacrifice humans and eat their flesh to fulfill his potential. Working for rebel warlord Roosevelt Johnson, the General would lead his troops into battle completely starkers except for shoes, claiming that nudity kept him safe from bullets. He would also routinely commit a human sacrifice, typically a child, before entering battle. In 1996, he converted to Christianity and now runs his own ministry.
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Sani Abacha
Nigeria is another African nation that has been rife with corruption and abuse, and the reign of Sani Abacha is a perfect example. Abacha was involved in multiple coups from the 1960s onwards, but it wasn't until 1993 that he took the throne for himself. Upon assuming the Presidency, Abacha declared that he possessed absolute power over all branches of the government, and proceeded to launch a program of human rights abuses that boggles the mind. The dictator and his family looted almost $10 billion from the country's treasury and had anyone who opposed their business dealings killed - most notably activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. He died of a heart attack in 1998 while in the company of two prostitutes from Dubai.
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Bosco Ntaganda
Here's another African warlord with an evocative nickname. Bosco Ntaganda, also known as "The Terminator," is a Rwandan soldier who first helped overthrow the Hutu-led government there after the Rwandan genocide. From there, he traveled to the Congo where he joined the PFLC in seeking to overthrow that country's government. He became Chief of Military Operations and was responsible for countless human rights abuses. Bosco's prime recruitment pool was children, who were promised women and power in exchange for military service. In 2006, a warrant was issued for his arrest from the International Criminal Court, and he surrendered to them in 2013.
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Robert Mugabe
Some of these warlords started their political career as heroes to the people, only to turn on them and become villains. Robert Mugabe was one of the guerilla leaders against colonial rule in Rhodesia during the 1960s and 1970s, and when the country was liberated he easily won open elections to become the first president of the newly-renamed Nigeria. But a rift between Mugabe's government and the Marxist ZAPU faction laid the groundwork for the destruction of democracy in Zimbabwe, with Mugabe embarking on numerous programs of genocide to remove any tribal opposition to his rule. His social programs have resulted in Zimbabwe having the lowest life expectancy of any nation on Earth. Mugabe has also spoken admirably of Hitler, saying that he is the Hitler of the present day.
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Muammar Gaddafi
The recently-deposed leader of Libya held on to power for longer than just about any warlord on this list, ruling his country with an iron fist from 1969 to 2011. After overthrowing an unpopular monarchy, Gaddafi established a socialist government that helped consolidate national power in his name. His rule became increasingly erratic, with Libya stockpiling chemical weapons and aiding terrorists all over the world. One of the most shocking accusations made against Gaddafi is that he provided his soldiers with Viagra-like drugs to encourage them to rape enemy women. In 2011 he fled the capitol but was captured and killed by militia rebels.
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GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images8 of 10
Thomas Lubanga
The founder of the Union of Congolese Patriots, Thomas Lubanga was a key player in the Ituri conflict, where two rival tribal groups battled over a gold-rich region in the northern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Under his command, the UPC was used for massive ethnic cleansing, destroying whole villages to secure potentially profitable gold mines. Lubanga was also a proponent of child soldiers, at one point having over 3,000 fighting for him. The International Criminal Court prosecuted him for violating the Rome Statute, and he was arrested in 2005 in connection with the killing of nine United Nations peacekeepers.
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PIERRE GUILLAUD/AFP/Getty Images9 of 10
Jean-Bedel Bokassa
One commonality you'll note with many of these warlords is that they were trained in the ways of combat by European colonial forces and then went on to turn that training against them. Jean-Bedel Bokassa was an orphan from French Equatorial Africa who served in the French army, and when that region gained its independence (and renamed itself the Central African Republic) Bokassa was put in charge of the military. Of course, power corrupts, and it wasn't long before Bokassa launched a coup. After taking over the government in 1966, he instituted insane, draconian laws featuring amputation as punishment for even the smallest crimes. In 1977, he held an expensive ceremony to crown himself Emperor of Central Africa that single-handedly bankrupted the entire country. Two years later, the French army intervened and removed him from power.
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PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images10 of 10Next: Terribly Awesome Puns
Charles Taylor
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has always had his finger in the pie - his first government position in 1983 saw him embezzle nearly a million dollars from the country. In 1997, after a long civil war, he was elected to the Presidency. During his regime, he set up a private army and funded rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for blood diamonds. In 2012, he was brought before an international tribunal on war crimes charges and found guilty of murder, rape, acts of terrorism and sexual slavery. Taylor's son Chuckie followed in his father's footsteps, leading the anti-terrorist unit known by Liberians as the "Demon Forces." He's currently serving a 97-year prison term.
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