ABSTRACT
Populist regimes have conventionally been described as those in which leaders try to have direct contact with followers, unmediated by established institutions. African rulers who portray themselves as populists are not new in Africa. But the phenomenon of military leaders reaching out for broader constituencies beyond the armed forces, couching their appeals to civilians in terms of equity issues, and trying to mobilize broad segments of the population has been more characteristic of Latin American leaders. African politics have been heavily influenced by the idiosyncrasies of individual leaders. The personalities and predilections of military personnel have been influential in determining policy outcomes, although heads of state usually have not been able to implement all their policies. Political wings and cells had been created within or above African armed forces previously. Tanzania had party cells and political commissars in the military. Afro-Marxist military regimes had affirmed Leninism, which implied the supremacy of a party, in a number of self-declared Marxist-Leninist states.
