Dang, he was so close to making it all the way to the top.

African leaders have a history of becoming rather fond of power, which is why there are some lofty numbers on this chart below.

Bob has been knocked from second place, but he’s not the only long-serving African leader to see his name recently removed from the list in question.

Earlier this year Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos decided not to stand for re-election as party president, and de facto state president after 38 years.

In addition, Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh eventually relinquished control and moved out of the presidential palace after losing a December election. He’d been in power for 22 years.

So, via Atlas, here’s the list of current longest-serving leaders:

Paul Biya actually served as Cameroon’s Prime Minister for seven years before taking the reigns as president, so some lists (like THIS one) have him at 42 years in power.

You can find out more about Teodoro Obiang HERE, Yoweri Museveni HERE, and Omar al-Bashir, the man we let escape in the midst of charges of mass killing, rape, and pillage, HERE.

Other long-serving leaders who aren’t from Africa include Ali Khamenei from Iran (HERE), Nursultan Nazarbayev from Kazakhstan (HERE), and Cambodia’s Hun Sen (HERE).

How about the party when this clown ends his tenure?

Buy a nice bottle of whiskey now, put it somewhere safe, and crack it open when the time is right.

Or, like this Zimbabwean, crack open multiple bottles:

Whatever you’re doing, just do it responsibly (and don’t wear a stupid ‘I stand for our national anthem’ shirt).

[source:atlas]