Similar occurrence just up the road in Kigali. Told by tower to wait for VIP when we requested start. As we were a scheduled flight, we politely declined and started then asked for taxi. Tower getting a bit excitable by now but we got out of there with no further problems except for a pissed off VIP who was under the impression that our sched was there for him to command as he pleased.
Couple of weeks later we had the same thing, except this time it was accompanied by two armoured vehicles parked at our nose with trigger happy ****heads in them who kept their Duschkas trained on the cockpit while we 'waited' for the idiot VIP.
Minor functionaries with crocodile sized egos and chipmunk brains are not endemic to Africa, although the place does seem to breed them at an alarming rate.