There is a long history of African leaders hiding or lying about their health to keep rivals at bay.
Rumours of ill-health have engulfed two African presidents in recent weeks, sparking contrasting responses and exposing how the wellbeing of leaders is often treated as a state secret.
Chakwera and Biya used very different approaches to tackle the rumours about illnesses, but they had a similar intent - to project, and protect, an image of strength and virility.Prof Tendi says that the game of politics is a “performance of masculinity” that needs to be done to maintain power. If something happens to them, it can affect the economy, the markets and alter the political landscape, a security expert from Zimbabwe told the BBC, and this is why extra precautions are taken.
In Malawi, the government delayed the announcement of President Bingu wa Mutharika’s death in 2012, sparking speculation that there was an effort to prevent the succession of his Vice-President Joyce Banda. Three years ago, the announcement that Tanzania's President John Magufuli had died came after weeks of denial that he was sick. People were even arrested for spreading false information about his health, only for them to be ultimately proven right.Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera, 69, released photos of himself doing push-ups to reassure the public he was not sick
Cameroon’s former President Ahmadou Ahidjo is believed to be the only African leader to resign due to ill health, in 1982, after ruling for 22 years. Mobutu was too sick to coordinate any resistance, and he fled to exile in Morocco, leaving Kabila to seize power.But Nigerian farmer and teacher, Abeku Adams, 41, who has experienced two presidents dying in office, said the secrecy could also be a “cultural thing”.
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