Zimbabwe has exposed Africa’s underbelly

By Juma Kwayera

Besieged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe clings onto power despite international pressure for him to quit.

Despite the chorus of condemnation that has gone his way, he is not totally to blame for plunging his country into a bottomless pit. African governments take the lion’s share of the blame, especially the Africa Union.

What appals the community of civilised nations is the criminal silence African leaders, including the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Zimbabwe belongs to, have maintained even as it became apparent Mugabe is determined to cling onto power.

The callous indifference to the plight of ordinary people, which was predicated by acute food shortages and cholera, is a statement the continent is not ready to shake off its tyrannical past.

Human rights groups and relief agencies estimate that 100,000 people are already infected with the highly contagious cholera, a situation that is exacerbated by the virtual collapse of the health infrastructure as famine ravages the entire country.

Myriad problems

Relief agencies, including the UN’s World Food Programme, estimate that more than two million Zimbabweans need food. Four million others have been forced into exile in neighbouring countries to escape the economic crunch triggered by political turmoil and bad agricultural policies caused by Mugabe’s decrees on land ownership.

"Behind the political crisis and health emergency, there is a worsening human rights crisis in Zimbabwe, with the most recent development being this unprecedented spate of abduction of human rights defenders. This shows the audacity of a regime that is desperate to stay in power, no matter what the cost. The only way out of this problem is through unified pressure from outside, in particular of African leaders," said Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary-General, in a report published on Wednesday.

The release of the report coincided with the AU statement in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that the Zimbabwean situation would remain a local issue as the nine-month standoff between Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe persists.

Mugabe, who declined to concede defeat in the March 29 presidential election, forcing a ‘one-man runoff’, has refused to cede power to his political tormentor, Tsvangirai. Instead, he has unleashed terror on his subjects, with the AU choosing to look the other way as he commits atrocities.

The current AU leadership is representative of the deceased African politics of non-interference in "internal affairs of sovereign states." When Kenya was on fire, the same callous indifference was manifest until the UN intervened through former Secretary-General Dr Kofi Annan.

AU loud silence

When AU Chairman, Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, finally made the trip to Nairobi, journalists who were covering the mediation talks were appalled that he spent most of his time in informal sessions. The AU has similarly steered clear of the Zimbabwe crisis, raising serious questions about its significance.

The picture the AU Chairman painted was in total contrast with the manner Annan and outgoing US Secretary of State Dr Condoleezza Rice shuttled between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Kibaki’s bases to save Kenya from imminent collapse.

It was therefore not surprising — callous as it is — when Kikwete declined to take a more proactive role in restoring peace in Zimbabwe, despite years of Mugabe’s tyranny and carnage.

So far, the only voice calling for intervention is that of Raila. In June, when it looked like African leaders might finally break out of their shells and take decisive positions on the Zimbabwean imbroglio, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, the late Zambia President Levi Mwanawasa and Botswana President Seretse Ian Khama upped the chorus for Mugabe’s ouster. The voices have suddenly gone silent.

In its assessment of the current humanitarian crisis in the Southern African nation, the International Crisis Group said the situation is out of control as the Government has locked out relief agencies.

— [email protected]