African Leaders Will Resolve But Not Solve Crisis in Zimbabwe

By Dr. CHIGBO OFONG
Special to USAfricaonline.com , USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston, CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal

The African Union summit which began in Egypt June 30, 2008, attracts a lot of attention as the world wonders if African leaders can find a solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe was sworn in for the 6th term as president in a run-off election in which he was the only candidate. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had more votes than Mugabe in the March general election, though short of the majority required for  outright victory, had to withdraw last week from the run-off election, citing widespread intimidation and murder of his supporters by the ruling Zanu-PF party.

As Mugabe arrived in Egypt for the African Union summit, several African election monitoring groups and African leaders including the African Parliamentary Observer Mission, the Southern African Development Community, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga condemned the June 27, 2008 election as not free and fair and thus not reflecting the will of the people of Zimbabwe. Like the West, some African countries and leaders favor punitive action against Mugabe’s government but Zimbabwe’s neighbors in southern Africa are deeply divided about it.

A solution to the crisis would be a satisfactory disposition of it which would mean canceling the run-off election and conducting a free and fair election that will truly reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe. However, this seems impossible given the divisions within the summit.

But there’s already a snag. On Tuesday July 1, 2008, Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba said a Kenyan-style power-sharing deal is not of interest to Mugabe. “I don’t know what power-sharing is…. Kenya is Kenya, Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe.” He added furl to the fires of the controversy by telling the major critics of the elections Britain, the U.S and the rest of the West: “They can go and hang a thousand times, they have no basis, they have no claim on Zimbabwe politics at all.”
On the other hand, the summit seems to be moving towards a consensus on a resolution of the crisis and that means finding a good enough compromise such as a power-sharing deal similar to the one that ended the Kenyan crisis. Both Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai can be persuaded to accept this in the interest of African unity and spirit of African brotherhood.
Dr. Ofong is Washington DC-based Executive Editor of USAfrica, USAfricaonline.com and CLASSmagazine.Tv

Mugabe sworn in for 6th term after violent, discredited election.

Zimbabwe’s controversial President Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a 6h term on Sunday June 29, 2008, in the State House complex, Harare. This followed after a few hours of a widely condemned and discredited runoff. “The inauguration is meaningless,” Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. He told the AP that “The world has said so, Zimbabwe has said so. So it’s an exercise in self-delusion.”

The hastily arranged inauguration of the defiant 84-year-old Mugabe was done, among other consoderation, to have him leave for the African Union summit that opens Monday in Egypt. Mugabe has been Zimbabwe’s leader since independence from Britain in 1980. Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu have added their voices to condemn the autocratic and violent ways of Mugabe and his supporters. Before their statements, neighboring Angola’s president urged the Zimbabwean leader “to stop the violence and intimidation” ahead of next week’s run-off election, state radio said Friday June 20, 2008.

In a letter to Mugabe, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos advised his counterpart to “observe the spirit of tolerance, respect for difference and cease all forms of intimidation and political violence”, the radio reported.

Zimbabwe votes in Mugabe’s one-man election… despite opposition withdrawal. By Fanuel Jongwe/AFP: Polls closed in Zimbabwe’s run-off election Friday with President Robert Mugabe certain of victory as the sole candidate in a contest that the opposition urged world leaders to reject. Counting began immediately after polling stations closed their doors on the stroke of 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) at the end of a 12-hour process denounced as a sham by the United States and the European Union.

Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round 13 weeks ago with 47.9 percent of votes to Mugabe’s 43.2 percent but decided to boycott the second round after a spate of deadly attacks against his supporters. And amid widespread reports that the electorate was being coerced into voting for Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai advised followers not to risk their lives with futile gestures of defiance.

“If possible, we ask you not to vote today. But if you must vote for Mr Mugabe because of threats to your life, then do so,” he said. “If forced to cast your ballot for Mr Mugabe to avoid personal harm, then again I say do so.” Despite state media predictions of a “massive” turnout, numbers voting in Harare were well down on the first round although reports from rural areas suggested polling stations were busier there.