11. Mswati III - Swaziland
The last absolute monarch in Africa, King Mswati III came to power in Swaziland at the tender age of 18 in 1986. He rules jointly with his mother who has a very long name. His father dissolved Parliament so the monarchy could make all the decisions but Mswati restored parliament. He has tried to implement reform policies regarding press freedom and because Swaziland is riven by an AIDs epidemic, he has had to pass some unusual laws like banning under 18s from sex. This was in 2001. Two months later Mswati married a girl under 18. Mswati is quite the stud - with 14 wives and 24 children. There are concerns over human rights abuses in Swaziland - mainly around the treatment of young girls and women. With a King who marries virtually every woman he claps eyes on, can you really expect anything better? There has also been outrage at Mswati's extravagant lifestyle which he flaunts over a dirt poor nation - a lot of newspapers have given him a hard time about his wealth. He's not the worst dictator out there but it must be said, he does little to make the lives of the people in Swaziland any easier.