The Assassination Playbook

As a child, I sat next to my father watching the evening news. I thought I’d one day study politics—but life had other plans. Still, those moments shaped me. They made me ask: Why does Africa, with all its wealth and talent, still lag behind? And why do leaders who dare to challenge the status quo so often meet tragic ends?

From Patrice Lumumba in Congo to Tom Mboya and J.M. Kariuki in Kenya, from Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso to Martin Luther King Jr. in the U.S., history repeats itself. Visionaries who dreamed of freedom and equality were cut down—often violently. Their only crime? Believing Africa could chart its own course.

In 1961, Patrice Lumumba’s assassination exposed the cruelty of neocolonialism. Determined to free Congo from Belgian and Western control, he became a marked man. With Belgian and CIA involvement, Lumumba was executed, his body destroyed to erase his existence. His death condemned Congo to decades of dictatorship and chaos.

Tom Mboya (1969): Brilliant, charismatic, and widely seen as Jomo Kenyatta’s successor. His push for reform and international influence made him powerful—and dangerous. His assassination shocked Kenya to its core.

J.M. Kariuki (1975): A fearless voice for the poor, Kariuki spoke truth to power on corruption and inequality. For that, he was brutally murdered. His mutilated body, dumped in Ngong Forest, remains a haunting reminder of the cost of courage.

Across the Atlantic, Martin Luther King Jr. carried a dream of equality that reached far beyond America. His assassination in 1968 was a chilling reminder: those who threaten entrenched power rarely live long enough to see change through.

Every time a visionary is eliminated, it’s not just a leader lost—it’s a dream buried. Movements derail, nations stumble, and corruption thrives. Africa has paid the highest price for silenced voices.

Congo today: Still plagued by conflict, resource wars, and foreign meddling decades after Lumumba’s death.

South Africa: Once a post-apartheid beacon, now strangled by political infighting while poverty and unemployment soar.

The bigger picture: Across the continent, leaders who resist Western dominance or push for independence are assassinated, overthrown, or neutralized. The script hasn’t changed.

So do we surrender? No. Africa’s youth must refuse to play pawn in a rigged game. Look at Kenya’s Gen Z, who shook the nation with Maandamano protests against the Finance Bill. Their defiance signals a new spirit: demanding accountability, rejecting division, and fighting for leadership that puts Africa first.

Lumumba’s fire, Mboya’s brilliance, Sankara’s courage—they live on. Africa’s story does not have to be one of silenced dreamers. The real question is: are we ready to finish what they started?