For African leaders who boldly stood up to the unending imperialist tendencies of the former colonial powers, this has generally been met with death. And France has never been hesitant to eliminate presidents who posed a threat to their imperialist plans. France has consistently connived and been in collaboration with other Western powers to assassinate African presidents they deem a threat to their interests.

These three French intelligent services, The External Documentation and Anti-Espionage Service (SDECE), DGSE and DST have been very active in doing the dirty work that encompasses coups and assassinations. French crimes in Africa have been made up of misinformation campaigns, "controlling black-skinned governors" (puppet presidents) and military propaganda. 

France has always ensured that former colonies remain under its tight hand. This explains the existence of the CFA Franc, a colonial currency that keeps former colonies from fully attaining economic independence. 

Presidents like Thomas Sankara who denied being under France's influence were eliminated from the planet, with France playing a big role in that grisly assassination.

Below is a list of African presidents assassinated by France since 1963:

– IN 1963: SYLVANUS OLYMPIO, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF TOGO –

– IN 1966: JOHN-AGUIYI IRONSI, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF NIGERIA

– IN 1969: ABDIRACHID-ALI SHERMAKE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF SOMALIA

– IN 1972: ABEID-AMANI KARUMÉ, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM ZANZIBAR

– IN 1975: RICHARD RATSIMANDRAVA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF MADAGASCAR

– IN 1975: FRANÇOIS-NGARTA TOMBALBAYE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF CHAD

– IN 1976: MURTALA-RAMAT MOHAMMED, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM NIGERIA

– IN 1977: MARIEN NGOUABI, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE

– IN 1977: TEFERI BANTE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. ETHIOPIA

– IN 1981: ANOUAR EL-SADATE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM EGYPT

– IN 1981: WILLIAM-RICHARD TOLBERT, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF LIBERIA

– IN 1987: THOMAS SANKARA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF BURKINA-FASO

– IN 1989: AHMED ABDALLAH, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. COMOROS

– IN 1989: SAMUEL-KANYON DOE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF LIBERIA

– IN 1992: MOHAMMED BOUDIAF, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. ALGERIA

– IN 1993: MELCHIOR NDADAYÉ, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM BURUNDI

– IN 1994: CYPRIEN NTARYAMIRA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF BURUNDI

– IN 1994: JUVENAL HABYARIMANA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF RWANDA

– IN 1999: IBRAHIM BARRÉ-MAINASSARA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF NIGER

– IN 2001: LAURENT-DESIRED KABILA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. CONGO-KINSHASA

– IN 2009 JOÃO BERNARDO VIEIRA, PRESIDENT OF GUINEA-BISSAU

– IN 2011: MUAMMAR GADDAFI, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBYA

Header image credit - African Exponent file