2016 has been a year of greatness and losses for Africa. Africa News reminisces over the lives lived by well-known and well-liked Africans who passed away in the year.Â
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
The continent also grieved the death of Egyptian diplomat and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who died at the age of 93 in Cairo. He is the first African Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Papa Wemba
Francophone Africa and the continent as a whole woke up in the morning of April 24, 2016 to the death of African music legend Papa Wemba. The 66-year-old Congolese soukous (rumba) musician died after he collapsed on stage during a performance at a music festival in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Papa Wemba was once a leader of the stylish and elegant Sapeur society. He has several albums and songs to his name including popular La Vie est Belle (Life is Beautiful), Show Me the Way and Maria Valencia.
Lucy Kibaki
Kenya’s former first lady Lucy Kibaki also passed away this year while receiving treatment at a hospital in London. The 75-year-old Lucy was known for being vocal and often expressing her dissatisfaction both on private and public issues.
Rtd Colonel Jean Baptist Bagaza
Former Burundi president, Rtd Colonel Jean Baptist Bagaza died in Belgium at the age of 70. Bagaza came to power in a coup in 1976 and ruled until he was deposed in 1987.
Stephen Keshi
Former coach of Nigeria’s national football team, Stephen Keshi died at the age of 54 after suffering a cardiac arrest in Benin City in the southern part of Nigeria.
Stephen is one of two African players to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and a coach, in 1994 and 2013 respectively, with the Super Eagles.
He was the first African coach to successfully qualify two African countries, Togo and Nigeria, to the World Cup in Germany (2006) and Brazil (2014) respectively.
Shuaibu Amodu
Three days after the death of Keshi, the technical director of the Nigerian Football Federation, and former coach of the Super Eagles, Shuaibu Amodu, died at the age of 58.
Amodu coached the Eagles on four occasions and qualified the country for the 2002 & 2010 World Cups. Amodu became technical director of the Eagles in April 2016. — Africa News