Though we may not tag the governments of all poorly educated African presidents as absolutely bad, but on a general note, bad leadership in many African countries could be traced to the poor educational background of their various presidents. This is because intelligence and education are indispensable components of good leadership. Also, according to Plato, one of the ancient philosophers, it is believed that a learned leader stands a better chance of doing well more than his uneducated counterpart.

Here are the African presidents with the least educational qualifications at the moment. No. 1 embarrassingly has none!


10. Isaias Afwerki

Edu. Qualification: Secondary School (Drop-Out)


Isaias grew up in Asmara and graduated from Prince Makonnen High School in 1965. His good grades in the General School Leaving Exams in his final high school year allowed him to obtain admittance to the highly competitive College of Engineering at Haile Selassie I University (now called Addis Ababa University) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, a year later he didn’t pass the exam, interrupted his studies and decided to join the Eritrean liberation struggle.

9. Abdelaziz Bouteflika – Algeria

Edu. Qualification: Secondary School

Bouteflika was raised in Oujda, where his father had emigrated as a youngster. He successively attended three schools there: “Sidi Ziane”, “El Hoceinia” and the “Abdel Moumen” high-school, where he reportedly excelled academically.

8. Paul Kagame – Rwanda

Edu. Qualification: Secondary School

Kagame began his primary education in a school near the refugee camp, where he and other Rwandan refugees learned English and began to integrate into Ugandan culture. At the age of nine he moved to the respected Rwengoro Primary School, around 16 kilometres (10 mi) away, graduating with the best grades in the district. He subsequently attended Ntare School, one of the best schools in Uganda. It is also the alma mater of future Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The death of Kagame’s father in the early 1970s, and the departure of Rwigyema to an unknown location, led to a decline in his academic performance and an increased tendency to fight those who belittled the Rwandan population. He was eventually suspended from Ntare and completed his studies without distinction at Old Kampala Secondary School.

7. Yahya Jammeh – GAMBIA

Edu.Qualification: Secondary School

President Jammeh received secondary school education at the respected Gambia High School in Banjul .Jammeh joined the Gambian National Army in 1984, was commissioned a Lieutenant in 1989, and in 1992 became commander of the Gambian Military Police. He received extensive military training in neighboring Senegal and at United States Army School of the Americas.


6. Muhammadu Buhari – Nigeria

Edu.Qualification: Secondary School

He attended primary school in Daura and Mai’adua before proceeding to Katsina Model School in 1953, and to Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College, Katsina) from 1956 to 1961.

5. Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir – SUDAN

Edu. Qualification: Secondary School

Al-Bashir was born in Hosh Bannaga, just north of the capital, Khartoum to a family of Arab descent. He belongs to Al-Bedairyya Al-Dahmashyya, a Bedouin tribe belonging to the larger ja’alin coalition, an Arab tribe in middle north of Sudan, in the past a part of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan. He received his primary education there, and his family later moved to Khartoum where he completed his secondary education.

4. Ismaïl Omar Guelleh

Edu. Qualification: Secondary School

Guelleh was born in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, into the politically powerful Mamassan subclan of the Issa clan. When Guelleh was younger he attended a traditional Islamic school. In the late 1960s, Guelleh migrated to Djibouti before finishing high school. He later joined the police, becoming a junior non-commissioned officer. He entered the service in 1968.

3. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz – MAURITANIA

Edu.Qualification: None (Military Training)

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was born in Akjoujt on 20 December 1956. He joined the Royal Military Academy of Meknes,Morocco in 1977 and, after a string of promotions, established the elite BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion). He played a key role in suppressing an attempted coup in June 2003 and a military uprising in August 2004.

2. Salva Kiir Mayardit

Edu. Qualification: None (Military Training)

Salva Kiir joined the military at a very tender age and is not known to have received any form of formal education. In the late 1960s, Kiir who was born in 1951 joined the Anyanya battalion in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer.

1. Jacob Zuma – South Africa

Edu. Qualification: None

Zuma was born in Nkandla, Natal Province (now part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal). His father was a policeman who died when Zuma was young, and his mother was a domestic worker. He received no formal schooling. As a child, Zuma constantly moved around Natal Province and the suburbs of Durban in the area of Umkhumbane.

DankemzI:
Buhari is there, very good

OZAOEKPE:
"thank God PMB made the list". Quote me anywhere.

MizMyColi:
But I thought they said PMB attended One US war college like that

MizMyColi:
But I thought they said PMB attended One US war college like that

megawax8:

vicadex07:


You're a bigot...

MizMyColi:
But I thought they said PMB attended One US war college like that

gulfer:
The most educated president ever in Africa was Jonathan Goodluck and he almost ruined a nation of plenty. He propounded the theory, "stealing is not corruption'. With his PHD, he cannot hold a candle to 'illiterate' Zuma's face.

steph2sweet:


And who told you he is the most educated president ever in Africa.

GabrielSuswam:
Yeaaaa PMB Has just a Primary School Certificate...

But if he can give Nigerians the good governance we need I think I'll support him to 2023...Back in his days how many of our Dad's had degree Certificates?

Brb fellas too bad I forgot some bottles of orijin in my fridge last night, Kai they all broken now in the refrigerator due to extreme freezing temperature....


Infact BUHARI must go

iPrinz20:

STALE

orisa37:
Buhari is very highly educated and skilled. He is a Professional in two fields ie Military and now Politics. Educated and skilled in the order of Professions, such as Medicine, Politics, Laws, Engineering, Military etc. A Professional person is one that combines Knowledge and Skills in all his actions, interactions and movements. God trains the humans that train and educate all of us. He is The Great Instructor, Director and our Discerner. God is always aware of His Light and Darkness in all of us, in Certificate-foggers, impostors and Con-men. As for the remaining 9 Presidents you listed, I say that in the Profession of Politics, they are all not less qualified than our PYO, Obama and/or Angela Merkel.

gulfer:
Which other president claimed phd, not honorary phd as part of their credentials? It was so loud duringr his campaign.
FYI: Mugabe who recently read a wrong speech has two masters and three bachelors degrees.