1. Nelson Mandela...CONTINUE READING
South African politician, philanthropist, and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela served as president of that nation from 1994 until 1999.
In a fully representative democratic election, he became the country’s first black head of state. He is admired all over the world as a symbol of social justice and democracy.
Mandela was imprisoned for seditious behavior multiple times, but his most famous confinement occurred from 1962 until 1990, when he was held for sabotage and conspiring to overthrow the government violently through Umkhonto we Sizwe.
Due to considerable unrest, regional and international pressure, and fears of a racial civil war, Mandela was released from prison in 1990.
2. Robert Mugabe
One of the few individuals in the world to have gone from being imprisoned to being president is Robert Mugabe, the political and revolutionary leader of Zimbabwe. He served as Zimbabwe’s prime minister from 1980 until 1987. He presided over the nation as president from 1987 until 2017.
He is considered as an African nationalist who helped free Zimbabwe from white minority rule, British imperialism, and colonialism.
Due to his disapproval of British rule and his position as a major member of the Zimbabwe African National Union, Mugabe was imprisoned until November 1974. (ZANU). His arrest took place in December 1963.
After being released, he relocated to Mozambique, took control of the ZANU, and began conducting guerilla operations against the country’s predominately white government.
Mugabe’s guerilla campaign finally resulted in peace talks with the UK and the country’s independence on the condition that free elections be held. In the 1979 election, Mugabe led ZANU-PF to victory. He went on to become prime minister in April 1980 and president in 1987.
3. Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma, a well-known anti-apartheid campaigner, was South Africa’s fourth democratically elected leader. He was also South Africa’s deputy president from 1999 until 2005, when then-President Thabo Mbeki forced him out of office.
Zuma joined Umkhonto we Sizwe, the ANC’s military wing, in 1962 after joining the ANC, the country’s ruling party, in 1959.
On Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other important ANC leaders were also imprisoned at the time for preparing to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid regime, he served his 10-year prison sentence after being arrested there in 1963.
After being set free, Zuma emigrated to a nearby country but continued to be an ANC member while there. He was chosen to oversee the Southern Natal district in 1990 after his return.
Zuma rose up the ranks of the party to become its general election champion in 2009. He was selected to serve as president of South Africa until he resigned in 2018..<<CONTINUE READING>>
