And Headlines (Quicklinks) Are Back!

School weapons crackdown in ZA

Kenya human rights activists head to the Hague to demand justice

Mouseveni continues to deal w fallout from the Buganda conflict violence

KwaZulu-Natal govt to pay for funerals of two girls trampled to death during a stampede at a traditional dance

A minister has dirt on former Zambian Defense Minister George Mpombo

The Crisis in Zimbabwe

Recent election news: Sokwanele kept a running tab of the effects of the violence and boycotts.

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The BBC has, as almost always, a good overview of the situation.  I’ve also pulled the best stories I’ve seen covering specific aspects of the elections or violence. 

The LA Times has an excellent and completely saddening article about the ZANU-PF youths who are threatened into beating members of the opposition in order to protect their own families.  It reminds me of nothing so much as the child soldiers of West Africa. 

This general violence comes after weeks of targeting opposition leadership, either through direct assasination or by targeting family members. 

There isn’t much in this NY Times article about the UN Security Council’s unanimous declaration against the violence to recommend it in particular – besides the actual newsworthiness of the headline – but its description of Mbeki’s “mediation” as ‘maintain[ing] a strategy of quiet diplomacy’ made me laugh out loud.  So that’s what we’re calling silence these days. 

Speaking of which, another NY Times article addresses Mbeki’s failure to condemn Mugabe.  This article characterizes Mbeki’s approach as ‘walking softly, carrying no stick’.  The authors report that South Africa’s deputy foreign minister, Aziz Pahad, has said that ‘”We can only say the mediation has failed if we reach a situation where Zimbabwe totally gets engulfed in a state of civil war”.’  Does this me that the opposition has to form its own army before Mbeki will admit defeat?

The article itself is thoughtful, and underscores the troubled relationship between African leaders and their constituents, as well as the almost incestuous connections between the leaders themselves. 

I almost hesitate to include this Flikr album, because of the level of violence depicted (DO NOT open during lunch).  (The link is to Andrew Sullivan; he links to the pictures, but also a piece by the Times).  This what life is like currently in Zimbabwe.  It doesn’t have to be like this!

And in case you missed it, Tsvangirai’s statement last weekend withdrawing from the elections (Hat tip: Meaningfulness of Little Things).

Although I think Tsvangirai’s actions make sense in light of… everything, this Guardian op-ed says he must convince his followers that he’s not simply playing into Mugabe’s hands. 
 

Nelson Mandela at 90

As I absorb news about events in Zimbabwe, I wanted to share this article about Nelson Mandela.  Roberts tries to look past the mythology to see the man.  It’s informative, well-written, and quite thoughtful article.

In the end, however, I would say that it is limited in its value, if only because Roberts does succumb to the Mandela myth.  He too readily sees Mandela’s flaws as virtues, claiming that his lack of diplomacy is the result of principles and strong will.

Towards the end, Roberts acknowledges that Mandela is imperfect, but again, this fails to diminish him.  He goes through the list of criticisms: not speaking out about AIDS from the beginning, questionable company, seeking favors from businessmen, but is quick to defend Mandela against each.  Nor is there any mention of the latest controversy, that of Mandela’s failure to condemn Mugabe.  Roberts also seems to adhere to the ‘big man’ theory of history; that without Mandela and others, South Africa would have fallen victim to the same fate as Zimbabwe, or perhaps even the Balkans.

I think young people in South Africa (or anywhere, really) would do well to learn from Mandela, to follow in his footsteps as a leader. Still, we need to take care to recognize that he, and other African leaders, are just people. Impressive, certainly, but still just people. Their legacy can’t be that people think they are magicians and saviors, but rather that everyone must make their own choices and stand up for themselves. This is better articulated by Bongani Madondo, so I’ll let his words finish:

I think he is flawed and we are flawed by not recognising his flaws. If you want to look at faults, you recognise he is human. We overrated him, we made him a saint. I’m an open critic. We should be dealing with a real person. We don’t want to put blinds on our face. If you ask me, there are political problems with him.

Headlines from Africa

Mbeki in last-ditch unity bid

Ethiopia and Eritrea inch towards war

A South African judge tries to influence his fellows about Zuma

Everybody’s guilty in Congo-Kinshasa

Ghanaians are making a living on handicrafts and fruit (mmm mangoes)

The Rwandan government will indict foreigners involved in the 1994 genocide

The HALO Trust cleans up land mines in Angola

Volkswagon creates jobs in ZA

Sierra Leone asks its ex-pat doctors to come home

Nigeria needs $40 billion to build… everything in Lagos

And as the dog bites man headline for the day, Mugabe blaims Britain for everything.  Actually, I would suggest reading the comments on that.  Glyph provides some good background, kamazu defends with the mandatory ‘they were colonized so it’s not their fault’ argument and awt_independent brings the sarcasm.

I am skeptical of the ‘we were victims!’ defense of bad governance by former colonies.  I studied post-colonial South Africa in college, and yes, there are legitimate (and awful) affects on society, culture, politics and economics.  And colonialism in Africa was very different from India and SE Asia.  But, there is a difference between acknowledging those affects and dealing with them, and continuing to play the victim.  The healing process is hard, and not always straight-forward (witness ZA), but possible, and necessary.  Sadly, I just don’t think Zimbabwe’s there yet. 

Mugabe’s Militia Burn Opponent’s Wife Alive

Oh my God.

[The militia men] grabbed Mrs Chipiro and chopped off one of her hands and both her feet. Then they threw her into her hut, locked the door and threw a petrol bomb through the window.

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Mrs Chipiro, 45, a former pre-school teacher, was the second wife of a junior official of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) burnt alive last Friday by Zanu (PF) militiamen. Pamela Pasvani, the 21-year-old pregnant wife of a local councillor in Harare, did not suffer mutilation but died later of her burns; his six-year-old son perished in the flames.

The article also reports that more men returned later, possibly to kill Mr Chipiro, but fled when they saw about 70 local MDC supporters gathered at his house.

I feel that this might be an excellent situation for a UN Emergency Peace Service force to be sent in (if we had one.  This could be used as more evidence that we need one).  An alternative (now, or as a future component under UNEPS) could be an AU force to 1. overcome the militia and 2. stand in for the corrupt (or intimidated) police.  This wouldn’t need to be a full-scale military intervention on the scale that many R2P advocates want, but something should be done.  This is simply beyond the pale. 

Where the hell is South Africa on this?  The rest of the African Union?  Mandela?  Despite my  mention of UNEPS previously, this is not a job for the UN.  It is one thing to not have the capacity or training to intervene (such as in Darfur).  It is quite another to continue appeasing* (Mbeki FINALLY admitted there is a crisis at hand) a dictator who countenances such actions.  The continent and individual countries have many friends and supporters in the West; I am one of them.  But I have to say this: Get your house in order!

 

* NB: There is in fact a difference between appeasment and maintaining diplomatic relations.

Posts That Got Stuck in My Inbox

I wrote a while back that I often email interesting articles to myself in the hope that one day I’ll eventually write about them, and that I then fail to follow through; hence the quicklinks category.

Having finally gotten the time to sort through all of these links, here’s a few that I forgot to share.

Dani Rodrik at the Turkish-American Scientists and Scholars Association (TASSA) Conference talking about why some countries are poor and others aren’t.

Chris Blattman discussed transparency in foreign aid projects.

Dani Rodrik links to growth diagnostics for South Africa.

A Vox post on the ‘lifecycle of regions’.

The Nordic model of economics.

A Cato policy forum on the future of failing African states.

I should have some more original posts on the way in the next week as well.

New Postings in Writings

I’m slowly adding to my portfolio on the Writings page.  Topics include:

• Ethnicity in Nigeria
• Liberation theology and apartheid in South Africa
• The Milliennium Challenge Account
• The state in Botswana and Sierra Leone

And my recent review of “Wither the Darfur Mediation” and “Beyond Darfur” is also posted there.