As Putin Gets Reelected A Look At World’s Longest Serving Leaders

Last Updated: March 18, 2024, 13:48 IST

Longevity in positions of power is a rare phenomenon as regimes and governments keep changing. Change is the only constant in politics but some leaders have been able to hold onto power for decades. This list excludes monarchs.

Here Is A List of the World’s Longest Serving Leaders

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea (44 years): Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is the second president of West African nation Equatorial Guinea. He seized power from his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in 1979 and executed him. He is among the longest-serving heads of state in the world but his rule has been marred with allegations of human rights abuses and blatant corruption.

Paul Biya, Cameroon (42 years): Paul Biya, the Cameroonian President, has faced allegations of corruption and authoritarianism during his long tenure. Critics have accused his government of widespread corruption, human rights abuses and political repression and has also accused him of curbing press freedoms.

Yoweri Museveni, Uganda (38 years): Museveni, who became the Ugandan President in 1986, had complained during the years he spent in exile due to dictator Idi Amin’s rule of leaders “overstaying” became a leader who has long stayed in power. He is credited with revitalising the Ugandan economy but his rule has faced allegations of widespread corruption, fraud, vote rigging in a bid to stay in power and LGBT rights suppression.

Emomali Rahomon, Tajikistan (31 years): Rahomon rose to power backed by Russia in Tajikistan following the Tajik civil war. He is accused of authoritarianism, nepotism and sidelining opponents.

Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus (29 years): Lukashenko, the strongman leader of Belarus, is among the longest-serving leaders of the world but his rule was also marred with attacking the opposition to the point that it is non-existent, rigging polls, corruption and vote-rigging.

Vladimir Putin, Russia (over 20 years): Vladimir Putin this week was handed another term and is now poised to stay in power longer than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century. He spearheaded efforts to challenge the dominance of the West and rose from being the head of the FSB security service in 1998 to Prime Minister and then President of the Russian Federation.

Ismail Omar Guelleh, Djibouti (24 years): The leader from Djibouti has stayed in power for more than two decades and has brought amendments to the constitution to remain in power. He has faced allegations of widespread rigging in recent elections.