allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Mugabe Touched Africa's Weakest Point (Page 1 of 1)

Before his flight to Egypt for the AU Summit, Zimbabwe President Robert Gabriel Mugabe told journalists that he was prepared for any challenge to his election and would tell whoever criticised him that they had no moral authority to condemn his administration, since most of them had done worse things.

His response sounded like the Biblical story where the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman they caught committing adultery. Ostensibly, they were seeking Jesus' opinion on what to do with her since the old Law of Moses provided that such a person should be stoned to death.

Jesus represented a new covenant between God and His people. Looking at the group which had arrested her, he told them that anyone without sin should be the first person to cast the stone at the adulterous woman. Embarrassed, they all vanished and the woman was left with no accuser.

Obviously, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were not without sin and Jesus knew it. Probably, some of them were more evil than the poor woman who, perhaps could have succumbed to temptation for the first time.

At the AU Summit, Mugabe presented himself as the Biblical adulterous woman amongst the more sinful teachers of the Law and Pharisees.

It is not surprising therefore that the Summit declined to condemn President Mugabe and instead passed a redundant resolution calling on both sides to talk and establish a government of national unity.

This is a dangerous trend that is slowly but steadily frustrating Africa's democratisation process.

The incumbents rig elections well knowing that nothing would be done against them other than being advised to share power.

That is why I disagree with a number of commentators on Africa who think that Africa is on a steady path to meaningful democratisation.

It is true that the number of coups d'etats has drastically reduced but this does not mean that there has been a corresponding match with the promotion of democratic values.

In short, Africa's politics has changed in form but not content. That is why; instead of declaring themselves presidents for life, the way one of Uganda's former presidents, the late Idi Amin did, Africa's presidents are essentially creating conditions that effectively make them life presidents. Elections are organised only if they are sure of victory and when this is threatened, the process must be rigged in their favour.

This explains why only a handful of African delegates to the AU summit were confident enough to criticise Mugabe for fixing his election.

For "how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you don't see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you'll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother's eye," Luke 6:42, International Standard Version, 2008.

For those who closely followed the electoral process in Zimbabwe, some of the violence was a replica of what happened on the streets of Kampala two years ago. Remember the kiboko squads from Kampala Central Police Station (CPS)? The same hoodlums were on Harare streets and other townships causing mayhem and the security agencies were looking on the same way District Police Commanders and senior military officers looked on in comfort as the squads beat up people on the streets of Kampala.

For those who think these were isolated incidents, 2011 is not far to prove that 2006 was just a dress rehearsal, for then, the stakes will be much higher as the incumbent increasingly loses support.

Similar forms of violence will be meted against members of the opposition as the levels of impunity intensify from one country to another. The call for the establishment of governments of national unity is now a cushion for leaders who rig elections. As long as violence is meted against members of the opposition and results are upheld as legitimate, many other governments in Africa would do the same.

No one is safe.

What happened in Zimbabwe and the failure by many African leaders to condemn the violence reflects badly on Africa and was a betrayal of the African people. Africa had the opportunity to redeem its image during the AU Summit in Egypt but because the whole continent is composed of only the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, the adulterer walked away scot-free as there was no one to cast the first stone. In Africa, there are no surprises.

Vincent Kiwanuka Kalimire, The author is an MA Student of Globalisation, Development and Transition at the University of Westminster, London.

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