Joseph Kabila, Congolese, President, Democratic Republic of Congo
When he was 29, Joseph Kabila became the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after his father, former president Laurent Kabila was assassinated in a coup attempt at the height of a cataclysmic civil war. As soon as he took the reins of power, Kabila moved quickly to end the country’s civil war by negotiating peace agreements with rebel forces, and played a lead role in the signing of the historic Sun City agreement in 2002 which ended the war. Kabila consolidated his hold on power in 2006 when he won the country’s first democratic elections in over 40 years. The DRC has the second highest rate of infant-mortality and the second lowest nominal GDP Per capita in the world, despite its immense deposits of mineral resources. But Kabila believes he can fix it all with more time; Seeking re-election during November’s Presidential elections.