Often considered the most famous political prisoner in world history, Nelson Mandela served 27 years as a prisoner on Robben Island as punishment for his leadership and activism against South Africa’s apartheid government. After being released in 1990, he helped draft South Africa’s new constitution and became the country’s first black president, fostering reconciliation and peace.
Nigerian businessman Moshood Abiola ran for president in 1993, but the results were deemed inconclusive. As the presumed winner, he declared himself the official president of Nigeria in what was considered the country’s freest and fairest presidential election in history. Later that year, however, General Sani Abacha seized power and had Abiola arrested for treason. He was imprisoned for four years, and held mostly in solitary confinement.
Musician Thomas Mapfumo, known as “The Lion of Zimbabwe,” gained an enormous following in the former regime of Rhodesia. His music was known to take on controversial subjects criticizing the government. His politically motivated music often called for the people to join in violent revolution, and he was eventually arrested and sent to a prison camp for several months. Mapfumo lives in exile in the U.S., where he continues to speak out against the current Mugabe administration in Zimbabwe.
As founder and leader of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party in Ethiopia, Birtukan Mideksa was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment for her opposition to the country’s government. As one of the most charismatic and popular figures in the opposition, she was detained until October 2010, when an international campaign applied enough pressure to force her release.
Nigerian writer and poet Wole Soyinka — the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature — often created waves for his criticism of the Nigerian government. He was sent to prison in 1967 for 22 months after civil war broke out in the country between the government and the secessionist Biafrans. He was eventually released when the war ended in October 1969 and amnesty was proclaimed. While in prison, Soyinka wrote some of his best-known work.
As the chairwoman of the Unified Democratic Forces (UDF) — a coalition of opposition parties in Rwanda — Victoire Ingabire was imprisoned in October 2010 on charges of alleged terrorism and conspiracy against the government. She is an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame’s government. The country is divided on whether Ingabire is guilty of conspiring against the nation and inciting violence, or whether she has become a victim of the iron-fisted Kagame regime.
Lapiro de Mbanga, a Cameroonian singer, has made a career of incorporating political and social commentary into his music. He was arrested in 2008 following the release and wild popularity of his song, “Constitution Constipée” (“Constipated Constitution”), denouncing the country’s president, Paul Biya, and calling into question his desire to extend his term. The song was banned, but students used it as their anthem when they rallied and rioted in the streets against Biya. This led to Mbanga’s arrest on charges of alleged complicity in the violence. He was released in 2011, just one day before the official end of his sentence.
Humorist and columnist Wahome Mutahi developed a strong following for his column, “Whispers,” that often presented a satirical view of the trials of life in Kenya. In 1986, however, he was arrested, along with his brother, Njuguna Mutahi, for alleged sedition and association with underground movements. He spent 15 months in the torture chambers in Nairobi’s Nyayo House. He was eventually released without being brought to trial, and went on to write some of his best work inspired by the events.
Though Robert Mugabe is now known as both a dictatorial president of Zimbabwe, and a hardliner against Western interference in Africa, he ascended to political power opposing the white minority government of Rhodesia. As a leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union — the primary opposition group calling for Zimbabwean independence from white minority rule — he was arrested and charged with alleged involvement in violent conflict in black townships. Considered a political agitator, he was imprisoned for 10 years.
Alongside Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu was one of the best-known inmates at Robben Island. Also a key member of the African National Congress, after numerous arrests for his activism against the apartheid government, Sisulu was rounded up at Rivonia alongside 16 others and sentenced to life imprisonment. He served the majority of his sentence on the island, and was released in 1989 after 26 years in prison. He became a key figure in shaping the new South Africa, serving as the ANC deputy president from his release in 1989 until the country’s first democratic election in 1994.
