Speaker is one of the top governmental posts and rarely leaves before their term ends. Not long ago, speakers’ tendency to resign from their posts has been growing in Africa, and here is the list.

 1. Abdula Gemeda – Ethiopia

In 2017, Gemeda, representing the Oromo community, resigned, claiming that the Ethiopian government had lost respect for his people and did not see any reason to continue as Speaker of the National Assembly.

 2. Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari – Somalia

He was elected Speaker of the Somali Parliament in 2012 and reelected in 2017. In 2018, he resigned as speaker of the National House of people after facing a no-confidence motion in the parliament.

 3. Guillaume Soro – Ivory Coast 

Soro served as Prime Minister of the West African nation (2007-2012). He was elected Speaker of the National Assembly in 2012 and in 2019 resigned as part of his plan to seek the country’s presidency. He was later indicted and fled into exile in France.

 4. Keria Ibrahim – Ethiopia

Again in 2020, another Ethiopia speaker resigned. She was outraged by the postponement of the country’s General Elections in the Horn of Africa country over the coronavirus, a sign of growing tension between her party and the government.

 5. Job Ndugai – Tanzania

He resigned yesterday, January 6, 2021, saying that he reached the decision for the nation’s broader interests, the government, and his party (CCM).

He decided following a backlash within the government and his party over his comments on national debts saying the country was at risk of being auctioned.