Tunisian revolt a wake-up call to autocrats

Towards the end of last year, political pundits were guessing what would be the big story of 2011.

Some mentioned the referendum in southern Sudan, others thought it would be the upcoming elections in Uganda and Nigeria while for some, the political impasse in Ivory Coast would grab the headlines.

However the Tunisian people’s revolution appears to have stolen the thunder from the pundit’s wish list. The uprising, which led to the ouster of the authoritarian and repressive regime of President Zine Abidine Ben Ali, should be a wake-up call to all African leaders.

The key issues raised by the Tunisian citizenry, chiefly of massive corruption, unemployment, extreme poverty and skyrocketing prices of basic goods, are a reflection of what is happening in a majority of African states.

While people elsewhere in the continent have chosen to grumble silently and do nothing about their situation, the North Africans decided they could not take it any more, violently uprooting one of Africa’s longest serving leaders.

Indeed, a new wave of people power has begun sweeping across Africa. For 23 years, the Tunisian people have tolerated a dictatorial regime where police suppression is the order of the day, lack of freedom of expression and association, and the elimination of all avenues for the citizens to air their grievances.

Curfew

To demonstrate their resolve to see a regime change, not even a dawn to dusk curfews imposed by the Government to silence the protests that broke out in mid-December could deter the disillusioned masses.

Most African governments that came to power during independence were primarily dictatorial, thriving chiefly on propaganda that painted a false impression of a popular leadership,

This saw some leaders elevated to a position of demi-gods. Remember Central Africa’s Jean Bedel Bokasa, Uganda’s Idi Amin, Malawi’s Kamuzu Banda and Mobutu Sese Seko of the Zaire?

These tyrants epitomised the arrogance and impunity of African leadership, which ensured the electorate remained ignorant while suppressing dissenting voices.

The Tunisian uprising could be replicated anywhere in Africa. The truth is that time is up for the remaining dictators who have refused to respect the will of the people, right from Ivory Coast to Zimbabwe.

{Chiimbiru Gimode, Nairobi}

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