A look back at some of the figures on the African continent who we said farewell to this year.
January
- Oliver Mtukudzi, Zimbabwean musician, 66 He came to prominence in the 1970s as one of the voices of the revolution fighting white-minority rule. Affectionately known as "Tuku", his lyrics often carried social messages about HIV/Aids and coded political commentary. Read more here. - Houari Manar, Algerian singer, 37: One of Algeria's most popular and flamboyant singers of traditional folk music rai. He died as he was undergoing cosmetic surgery. His critics did not like the way he addressed socially sensitive topics in his lyrics, such as homosexuality. Read more here. - Hugh Lewin, South African writer and anti-apartheid activist, 79. He won the 2003 Olive Schreiner Prize for his prison memoir Bandiet Out of Jail about his imprisonment for seven years during apartheid, when he kept a secret record of his experiences and those of his fellow inmates on the pages of his Bible. Read more here. - Ahmed Hussein-Suale, Ghanaian investigative journalist, 31. Shot dead near his family home in capital, Accra, he was a member of Tiger Eye Private Investigations and had investigated corruption in Ghana's football leagues. Police believe he was killed because of his work. Read more here.February
- Bisi Silva, Nigerian art curator, 56. The founder of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos and the Asiko Art School, she created influential shows about African art across the world and told the BBC in 2014 about the importance of her project to preserve the work of photographer JD Okhai Ojeikere, who she said documented cultures and traditions that are dying out. Read more here. - France-Albert René, ex-president of the Seychelles, 83: He seized power in a coup in 1977 - the year after independence from the UK - and ruled the Indian Ocean archipelago for 27 years. Supporters credit him with introducing a socialist development programme, but critics say he ran an oppressive regime that crushed dissent. Read more here. - Dorothy Masuka, Zimbabwean-born South African jazz singer, 83: One of the most famous township singers in 1950s South Africa, she wrote some of the biggest hits of that decade. But when she dared to write political songs - one named after apartheid Prime Minister Daniel Malan and another speculating about the death in 1961 of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, she was exiled for more than 30 years. Read more here. - Caroline Mwatha, Kenyan human rights activist, 37: Known for her work documenting extrajudicial police killings, she was missing for five days until her body was found in a morgue registered under a different name. The authorities said she had died after complications from an illegal abortion. Amnesty International said her death "dealt a heavy blow" to Kenyan human rights defenders. Read more here. - Charles Mungoshi, Zimbabwean writer, 71: A prolific and internationally celebrated novelist and poet, he twice won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize of Best Book in Africa - in 1988 and a decade later. His first collection of short stories, Coming of the Dry Season, published in 1972, was banned by the white-minority government at the time. Read more here. - Chris Kantai, Kenyan hip-hop star, 40: Also known as "Katanda", the rapper is regarded as one of the pioneers of hip-hop music in Kenya, first rising to fame through street rap battles. His lyrical prowess and masterful delivery made him a huge favourite in the early 2000s. Read more here.March
- Med Hondo, Mauritanian film director, 82. Seen as one of the founding fathers of African cinema, he first won critical acclaim with his 1967 film Soleil O. It is about a young African migrant in Paris, exposing pervasive racism in France. According to Okay Africa, he was also known to do the voiceovers for French releases of Hollywood films for actors such as Eddie Murphy and Morgan Freeman. Read more here. - Okwui Enwezor, Nigerian curator, 55. He is credited with getting African art taken seriously across the world. Born in Calabar, he left Nigeria to go to university in New York where he founded Nka, a journal about contemporary African art in the early 1990s. In 2015, he became the first African curator of the Venice Biennale in its 120-year history. Read more here. - Bernard Dadié, Ivorian writer, 103: Known for his satiric works about living under colonial rule, his poem Dry Your Tears, Afrika was set to music by John Williams for Steven Spielberg's film Amistad about a mutiny on a slave ship. Read more here. - Gabriel Okara, Nigerian poet and novelist, 97. Regarded as the first modernist poet of Anglophone Africa, he rose to prominence in 1964 with The Voice, an experimental novel in which he translated his native language of Ijaw into English. Read more here. - Simaro Lutumba, Congolese musician, 81. Image copyrightNGOYARTO A popular rumba guitarist and songwriter, he was considered one of the best composers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a career spanning six decades. He was a member of TPOK Jazz band when it dominated the music scene from the early 1960s. According to The New Yorker, his passing marks the end of an era. Read more here.- Pius Adesanmi, Nigerian-born Canadian academic, 47:
April
- Richard Mouzoko, Cameroonian doctor, 42:
- Alfred Taban, South Sudanese journalist, 62:
- Papy Faty, Burundian footballer, 28:
May
- Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan writer, 48:
- Reginald Mengi, Tanzanian media mogul, 75:
- Fred Brownell, designer of South Africa's national flag, 79:
June
- Mohammed Morsi, ex-president of Egypt, 67:
- Seare Mekonnen, Ethiopia's army chief, 64 or 65:
- David Koloane, South African artist, 81:
July
- Bob Collymore, Kenyan-based businessman, 61:
- Nomhle Nkonyeni, South African actress, 77:
- Mandla Maseko, would-be astronaut from South Africa, 30:
- Hodan Nalayeh, Somali journalist, 43:
- Marc Batchelor, South African former footballer, 49
- Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisia's president, 92:
- Johnny Clegg, South African musician, 66:
August
- Kacaman (real name Darcy Irakoze), Burundian YouTube star, six:
- Uyinene Mrwetyana, South African university student, 19:
- John De'Mathew (real name John Ng'ang'a), Kenyan musician, 52:
- DJ Arafat (real name Ange Didier Huon), Ivorian singer, 33:
- Sir Dawda Jawara, The Gambia's first democratic leader, 95:
September
- Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's first post-independence leader, 95:
- Chester Williams, South African former rugby player, 49:
- Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, ex-president of Tunisia, 83:
October
- Isaac Promise, Nigerian footballer, 31:
- Andile Gumbi, South African actor, 36:
- Bernard Muna, Cameroonian lawyer, 79:
November
- Bogaletch Gebre, Ethiopian anti-FGM activist, 59:
- Xolani Gwala, South African broadcaster, 44:
- lmaas Elman, Somali-Canadian activist:
December
- Rashied Staggie, South African gang boss, 59:
- Ahmed Gaid Salah, Algeria's military chief, 79:
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