The Unstoppable March of Democracy In Africa

If it was a luxury as former French President Jacques Chirac of France was quoted as saying at the dawn of the 90s, then it is one that Africans have developed an unquenchable taste for. We are talking about democracy and its growth by leaps and bounds in Africa. It may not be the panacea to the myriad of problems that the continent has, conflicts, wars, poverty, mismanagement, corruption and other real and imagined ones, but democracy has the merit of offering the people the opportunity to make choices they see fit. Getting a taste of it has only fueled the appetites of Africans for more. They may be right or wrong in the choices they make, but the message is that Africans are ready to participate in decisions affecting them and examples around the continent through out the just ended year have pointed to this fact. Recent events in South Africa and Kenya lend additional credence to this fact.

Despite stiff opposition from the ruling elite in South Africa, despite his legal and media woes, Jacob Zuma was overwhelmingly elected as President of the ruling African National Congress, ANC in South Africa. The victory puts him in a strong position to take over the South African Presidency when the term of Thabo Mbeki expires in the next couple of years. The grace of President Mbeki to accept his defeat and the humility with which Zuma accepted his victory are very positive signs for the continent. The resolve of Zuma to work with President Mbeki is an example worth emulating. The resolve of the rank and file to show rejection of the incumbent no matter how powerful he may be is a signal worth taking serious by other leaders who continue to take the masses for granted. They do so at their own peril sooner or later. Stumbling block upon stumbling block could not stop Zuma because the people believed in his abilities unlike the South African leadership which did not have him in their good books.

Attempts in Kenya to slow the march of democracy have led to very devastating consequences, consequences that had Mwai Kibaki forseen, he may have avoided .With the wisdom that goes with age and grey hair in the African setting, and for someone who cuts the picture of a statesman across the continent he should have acted better to spare Kenya, the pain, anguish, violence, rape and looting that has become the lot of a people since with the complicity of Samuel Kivuitu,Head of the Electoral Commission of Kenya(ECM) democracy was massacred at the ebbing hours of what was on course as smooth elections. Old habits certainly die hard or how else will one explain that with the eyes of the world so strongly focused on the elections, with international observers watching closely, with huge wins for the ODM at the parliamentary elections, with a record number of Ministers floored in the elections including the Vice President Mody Awori, the ECM could fail so woefully at the threshold of making history? Some members of the ECM have distanced themselves from the results proclaimed by its Head.Perharps to safe face, Samuel Kivuitu says members of the party disputed President Kibaki pressured him to release results before they were verified and admitted that for sure he does not know who won. His cowardice, failure to stand tall, and complicity in fraud has put the country in flames, democracy we think is by far cheaper than the consequences of expensive antics from the likes of the Kivuitus and Kibakis of the continent who think the people can be duped all the time.

The failure of the African Union (AU) to show decisive leadership in moments like this is lamentable.The European Union, Britain and the United States has shown a greater commitment in efforts to break the stalemate. This inertia may only go to fuel the skepticism that some Africans have on the ability, capability and willingness of the AU to place premium on the aspirations of Africa and not the survival of comrades in power. Unfortunately it appears to be the case when leaders like President Museveni of Uganda, congratulate Kibaki and then try to talk to the opposition. Congratulating him is an endorsement of the fraud, it supports the continuous under minding of the will of the people, and sends wrong signals to the image that the world may have of the rest of Africa.

Kenyans have put up a heroic fight, which went beyond tribal lines until the machinations of self serving politicians came in. Africa needs democracy not to please the donor community, not to amuse the international community, but for its own proper interests. The prevalence of situations like the one existing in Kenya now are avoidable if we respect the will of the people, if the verdict from the ballot is accepted and respected. Africans have to take their destiny into their hands instead of leaving it in the hands of underachieving leaders bent on using hook or crook to stay in power. At the moment, there are reports of some three hundred people killed already in Kenya. Our pain goes to bereaved families, our prayers go for the souls of those killed, their blood we hope will only go to water the tree of liberty and free Kenyans and other Africans from the shackles of dictators, sit tight and underachieving leaderships all over the continent. May the martyrdom of those Kenyans only go to fuel the need for Africans all over the continent to stand up in the face of leaderships that do not represent their best aspirations, may it fire the zeal to remind leaderships that power belongs to the people and not leaders, that with this power they can make and unmake leaders.

May 2008 bring lots of good tidings, for Africa, may leaders in other countries where elections are scheduled have the wisdom realize the folly and dangers of toying with the will of the people, and may the people be courageous enough to know that the vote as Sidney Poitier puts it remains the single most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressed. It may only be through this and a lot more that the martyrdom of Kenyans in the post election violence, just like past ones in Cameroon,Togo,Ivory Coast and others have a meaning .At a time when Africa is attracting unprecedented attention from the rest of the world because of its resources, at a time when Africa is bracing up to use the its first hosting rights of the soccer world cup to show the rest of the world the real Africa, at a time when various initiatives like the organization of the upcoming Europe Africa Business Summit in Hamburg Germany and more across the United States are been used to lure investors to the continent, events like the one in Kenya could serve as unwanted spanner in the works and we hope that Africa, especially the leadership spares us all such calamities in future. Once more our wishes for a most prosperous year 2008 from the entire PAV Team