NEW YORK - When the beleaguered President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe was accosted by British journalists at the African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheik last week, one of them accused him of "stealing" the rigged presidential elections last month.
But the one time guerrilla fighter, who battled British-ruled Rhodesia before it became an independent Zimbabwe, had the last word, as he fired back at the reporter: "When are the British going to stop colonizing us? I am the president -- whether you like it or not?"
Over the past few decades, only about six to ten African heads of state, out of more than 50, have relinquished power voluntarily. Some are in power after stuffing ballot boxes while others have changed their constitutions to remain in power, preferably for life. A third category, a dying breed, once took power via military coups.
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| Mugabe holds roses as he arrives at Harare Airport on Friday after flying home from an African Union summit. AFP |
When the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the AU, barred coup leaders from participating in African summits, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan singled it out as a future model to punish military dictators.
Annan went one step further and said he was hopeful that one day the UN General Assembly would follow in the footsteps of the OAU and bar leaders of military governments from taking the podium in the Assembly hall. But that never came to pass in an institution where member states, not the Secretary-General, have the final say.
But Annan also said that "billions of dollars of public funds continue to be stashed away by some African leaders -- even while roads are crumbling, health systems are failing, school children have neither books nor desks nor teachers, and phones do not work." He also lashed out at African leaders who overthrow democratic regimes to grab power by military means.
African leaders who clung to office for lengthy periods included: President Paul Biya of Cameroon (who held office for nearly 24 years), Uganda's Yoweri Museveni (20 years) and Omar Bongo of Gabon (more than 40 years). Mobutu Sese Seko was forced out of office in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, after 32 years in office.
When the 53-member African Union (AU), the largest single political body in that continent, held its summit meeting last week, no African leader was willing to cast the first stone at Mugabe accused of winning an election through intimidation and thuggery. Neither were they willing to publicly challenge his political legitimacy.
So, even though the Western world wanted the AU summit to penalize him, Mugabe got away scot-free. Rightly or wrongly, the Africans hold the view that political problems in Africa should be resolved by African themselves, not outsiders. "Leave us alone, and let us decide on our own destinies," Senegal's Foreign Minister Tidiane Gadio was quoted as saying last week.
At a closed door meeting during the summit, Mugabe reportedly told African leaders that he is not the worst-elected head of state in Africa. Nigeria's presidential election last year was even more "dirtier", he said, referring to a country considered one of the major political powers in the continent. As a result, African leaders kept their lips sealed, with no one having the political courage to challenge Mugabe's legitimacy.
As one of the biggest incentives to good governance in Africa, Sudanese-born Mo Ibrahim, one of Africa's most successful businessmen and founder of Celtel International, came up with a novel idea last year: a prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
The prize, comprising $5 million over 10 years and $200,000 thereafter annually for life, will be awarded every year to a former African head of state -- both for good governance and for stepping down from political power after he or she finishes the legal term of office. It exceeds the $1.3 million given to the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The 2007 Mo Ibrahim Prize went to Joaquim Chissano, who served as Head of State of Mozambique from 1986-2005 and relinquished power when he ended his term of office. The Selection Committee, chaired by Kofi Annan, assessed every sub-Saharan African leader who had left office during the last three full calendar years of their exercise of leadership.
Annan said the prize celebrates more than just good governance. "It celebrates leadership and the ability to formulate a vision and convince others of that vision." The 2008 prize winner is to be announced in October.
The leadership incentive comes as African leaders, some of them deemed corrupt and running repressive regimes, are fighting a rash of problems, including poverty, hunger, civil wars, the spread of HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation.
But Daniel Molokela of the Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Combined Civil Society Organisations, was quoted as having said: "The award presupposes that African leaders stay in power because they want to accumulate wealth. I think they have already accumulated enough wealth. They cling to power to protect themselves. They fear that they would be prosecuted by their successors after giving up power." |
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