No king in US, no coronation in Africa, By Owei Lakemfa

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In vain President Donald Trump cried out that he is no king, and does not intend to be one. However, many United States (US) citizens did not appear to be listening. At least some seven million of them did not believe him as they cramped into over 25,000 protest centres across 50 states, protesting his alleged attempt to turn the country into an empire with him as emperor.

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As I went through the streets of New York on Saturday, 18 October, there were people carrying placards returning from various rallies in the city. Some of the placards had Trump graffiti with weird crowns on his head. They carried the central theme of rejecting authoritarianism and dictatorship. It was also a ‘Honk for free’ day with motorists honking in solidarity whenever they came across protesters.

The police swarmed everywhere apparently overwhelmed, looking tired and submissive.

But the crowds that turned out in Chicago seemed to have dwarfed those in New York. It was as if that city simply emptied into the streets. It appeared the earlier clashes in Chicago between the populace and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) teams, backed by various security agencies, were but dress rehearsals for the ‘No King Day.’

No Make America Great Again (MAGA) or bagger had a chance turning out counter protesters. They could only hurl insults in the media calling the protesters terrorists. They even predicted violence at the rallies, but they turned out to be peaceful.

To worsen matters for Trump, that day was the 18th Day of the Government shutdown with many federal employees going home without their pay packets. Some had even been laid off.

It seemed quite a bad week for Trump and his MAGA people. Hurling his former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, before the courts for alleged breach of security in his new book, was not good optics for the Trump administration. Few seemed to believe Trump when he said he knew nothing about the Bolton arraignment. In contrast, many believed Bolton that his trial is a retributive response by Trump for their parting ways.

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The disbelief in Trump may also be due to the fact that Bolton is the third top level American official having disagreements with him, who has been dragged to court. The first was former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), James Comey. The second is Leticia James, former New York Attorney General who openly accused Trump of weaponising the justice system and publicly challenged him, saying she is not afraid of him.

The week also turned out to be one the US President set free a convicted fraudster and fellow Republican, George Santos. The implication was not lost on many: the American President pardons a convict while striving to convict people who had served the country.

Trump had been riding on the crest of securing peace in Palestine. This has led to a noisy campaign that he should be coronated with the Nobel Peace Prize. But with Israel resuming its attacks in Gaza, shutting the Rafah Crossing to stop the flow of refugees back to their ancestral lands in Gaza, and restricting food aid, it appeared that while Trump had gotten the Gaza Peace Plan sealed and signed, he had not delivered.

Then, the alleged peace maker has sent warships, including nuclear- powered ones anchored off the coasts of Venezuela. There, they are bombing boats and killing their occupants because he suspects they are drug smugglers.

Back home in Africa, there are elected Presidents who are kings; leaders who, like monarchs, stay endlessly in power with or without the will of the electorate. President Faure Gnasingbe overthrew the Togolese government after his father, Eyadema, died in 2005. Months later, he was elected President and has been in power for 20 years now with extension plans.

Paul Kagame led rebel troops who stopped the Rwanda Genocide. He was in power under various designations until he officially assumed the elected presidency 25 years ago. President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti is 26 years in power.

The Eritreans fought a brutal war of independence before achieving independence from Ethiopia 32 years ago. Since then, President Isaias Aferwerki has held on to the presidency.

Uganda had to fight a civil war before General Idi Amin Dada was overthrown. Then, the victors fought themselves until President Yoweri Museveni emerged from the bushes in 1986. Since then, he has been President. So, for 39 years he has been President and intends to continue.

Dennis Sassou-Ngueso of Congo-Brazzaville was President for 13 years from 1979. Then he staged a comeback five years later, and has remained in office since then.

Paul Biya in poor Cameroun has been President since 1982. At 92, and after 43 years in power, he is unable to walk on his own, and lives in Switzerland while visiting his country once in a while. Despite this, he contested the October 12, 2025 presidential election. Since he is unable to stand or walk on his own, he did not border to campaign. Rather, effigies of himself and his wife were made and used to represent them at campaign rallies. One week after the election, the Cameroun Vote Counting Commission released provisional results that claimed Biya won the election, while rival candidate, Issa Chioma Bukari and the opposition declared their own results which claimed Biya lost.

The Dean of the Monarchical Life-Presidents of Africa, Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea is in his 46th year on the presidential throne.

There is not the slightest chance of Nigeria featuring on this list of monarchical presidents. But the possibility of the 2027 Nigerian elections becoming a mere coronation is high.

President Bola Tinubu was half way into his four-year term when the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, declared him unopposed as their presidential candidate for 2027. So, there is no room for any other member of the party contesting its presidential primaries. Now, many state governors who contested on the platform of other political parties have decamped to his party.

Also, many members of the National Assembly have similarly decamped, but retain their seats despite Section 68(1) (g) of the Nigerian Constitution which states that elected legislators who decamp to other parties before the expiration of their tenure should lose their seats. But the Constitution is made for Nigerian leaders. So, they retain their seats, especially when they decamp for a good cause: the compulsory retention of a good man in office. Apparently what is structured for Nigeria in 2027 is a coronation not a democratic election. So, what happens in Nigeria after 2027? If you ask me, who do I ask; more so when I am not educated?

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.