The way Africa handles this process in Zimbabwe will define how democracy goes in Africa, Raila Odinga, the Kenyan Prime Minister told the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday.
He should know. Mr Odinga took office as the result of a power-sharing deal brokered by Kofi Annan in the wake of postelection violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed. That Kenyan deal was supposed to be unique, not a model for any African country, like Zimbabwe, to adopt when the going got tough.
The main weakness in yesterday's agreement in Harare is clear. Without resolution of the underlying problems like the division of power and the control of armed forces and police, a grafted-together Kenyan-style agreement will simply fall apart. So what now if Mr Mugabe's bends the agreement with the opposition MDC as he did before, wrecking the previous deal, and effectively continues to rule?
Other African leaders know that is damaging, but are reluctant to be too hard on Mr Mugabe, who was once so widely revered across the continent.
Abdoulaye Wade said tht he would be prepared to offer Mr. Mugabe asylum in Senegal if the veteran leader agreed to go. We must tell him that if Mugabe does leave power, he will not be pursued, he said. We need to provide a smooth exit for him."
Even Mr Odinga, critical as he is of Mr Mugabe and his abuses of power, is reluctant to see him brought to trial and believes that if a deal granting Mr Mugabe immunity from prosecution were the cost of removing him, so be it.
None of these options look likely now the deal is done. South Africa has reacted triumphantly, pronouncing itself vindicated by the power-sharing agreement. I think the notion that Africa has a collective responsibility for what happens in African countries is a misguided one, said President Motlanthe of South Africa, which steered the two sides towards power sharing. As immediate neighbours, we are more keen to take our cue from the people of Zimbabwe itself.
Mr Annan retorted that was exactly what South Africa had not done, refusing to act on the findings of its own elections observers that only the first poll, that Morgan Tsvangirai won, was free and fair. When the leaders met they did not have the courage to support their observers, he noted. If they had accepted that, we probably would be facing a different situation.
I would hope that if MDC agrees to join the Government, the Southern African Development Community [the regional development group] will not think the situation has been resolved. They still need to lead.
Turning on their old colonial liberation hero may have been a step too far for many. The fact that others in the rest of Africa have stood up against his tyrannical rule, and are discussing the choices that may be needed to defend their own progress, is encouraging.
South Africa may have won this time, and may still view itself as a power apart: as it did, ironically in its apartheid years. It may still decry interference. But the seeds of collective African responsibility have sprouted and may be harder to uproot now. – Timesonline
Post published in: News