Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan
(1989 – Present)
Omar Al-Bashir came to power in Sudan in 1989 after he led a military coup against the democratically elected leader Sadiq al-Mahdi. In 1993 he declared himself President and disbanded all rival political parties. He has held three elections since he took power and was re-elected each time, though each election has been under fire for corruption. In the 1996 election al-Bashir was the only candidate allowed by law to run and therefore he won by a landslide. Even once opposition parties were allowed and South Sudan became semi-autonomous he continues to win elections that the international community finds to be wrought with corruption.
Omar Al-Bashir is currently the only standing president to have arrest warrants issued against him by the International Criminal Court. His warrant is for crimes against humanity largely for the crisis in Darfur in which Omar Al-Bashir was found to be connected to the genocide that occurred there. He was indicted on crimes of murder, extermination, torture, rape, forcible transfer and the war crimes of pillaging and intentionally directing attacks against civilians. These are severe accusations but they have not dampened the adoration of the Sudanese people for their president and many other African nations have spoken against the indictments. Since Sudan and Al-Bashir do not recognize the International Criminal Court he continues to remain president.
His corruption goes far beyond his crimes against humanity, he has also done a great deal of looting the state. Leaked diplomatic cables suggest that Omar Al-Bashir has as much as $9 billion stashed away with the London banks. The cables suggested that if the Sudanese people knew how much he had taken from the national treasury they would view him as a thief and not a crusader for the Sudanese people. The average annual income of a person in Sudan is $960 which shows just how much Omar Al-Bashir may have stolen from the people and how deep in poverty the rest of the country remains.