Baba, you are definitely on the money on this issue. The double standard
from the West continue to drag us in anyway they want. When it favors them
they support it, when it turns against them, they cry foul as nothing else
ever happened in their watch. It is and always has been obvious that they
don't give a flip about what happens in Africa.

My take though is, why African leaders are so dumb to turn against their own
people who continue to be marginalized? How much power do these African
leaders want? How comes non of these leaders think or know about legacy?

No really, seriously do these leaders ponder about everyone of them going
down in history with the worst legacy than the previous one? Do they ever
think about being on the good side of history? How can all these leaders
brought up under the same social climate of backwardness turn to be so
ruthless?

Do they read about history and what great leaders are able to accomplish for
humanity? Certainly there is plenty history of dehumanizing and shameless
ending of lives of brutal dictators in their back yards. Is that enough
to change the mindset of these leaders?

I just cannot comprehend the level of ignorance and greed for power? Is it
us as a race, social influence or what is it?  Is there any study to back
the reasons why African leaders continue to go this ruthless path?

Help me out please, because it is beyond any imagination for anyone to want
to lead themselves into such demise one leader after another.

Thanks

Baldeh (Demba)

On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 3:09 PM, Baba Galleh Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> BambaLaye,
>
> I think this so-called de-knighting of Robert Mugabe represents another
> classic case of the British government's – and the western world's -
> nauseating hypocrisy in dealing with Africa. When did Robert Mugabe ever
> deserve a knighthood from the Queen? Or more generally, what are the
> criteria for the conferment of this supposedly great honor on African and
> other commonwealth country leaders? Is knighthood conferred on those leaders
> who demonstrate respect for their own people or those that demonstrate
> respect for the so-called British commonwealth? I am raising these questions
> because Mugabe had been a brutal dictator for at least fourteen years
> (1980-1994) before the hallowed title of "Sir" of which he is now being
> stripped, was conferred upon him by our impressed Queen of the Great British
> Empire and Commonwealth. A cursory glance at Zimbabwean history illustrates
> this point.
>
> The two guerrilla armies that fought the liberation war in Zimbabwe –
> Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe National Liberation Army (ZANLA), and Joshua
> Nkomo's Zimbabwe People's Liberation Army (ZIPRA) – were largely constructed
> along the age-old ethnic binary of Shona and Ndebele. While the boundaries
> between these two ethnic groups have almost always been blurred and
> contested, ZIPRA had its center in Bulawayo and recruited most of its
> members and supporters from Matabeleland in western Zimbabwe. And while it
> included a spattering of Kalanga, Venda, and Tswana speakers, the ZIPRA army
> was overwhelmingly Ndebele and its lingua franca was Sindebele. On the other
> hand, ZANLA drew its support from the majority Shona peoples who lived in
> most parts of the rest of the country.
>
> In the "post-liberation" era, particularly during the "counter-insurgency"
> period in the mid-1980s, the Mugabe regime, in the name of "purifying and
> cleansing the body of the nation," ruthlessly authorized violence against
> the people he saw as in the way of a united Zimbabwe - the Ndebele.
> Appropriating and deploying the Emergency Powers of the ousted Rhodesian
> state, as well as its concept of collective punishment, Mugabe sent troops
> into Matabeleland in a project he termed Gukurahundi (Shona for "Sweeping
> Away the Rubbish") to crack down on alleged traitors to the national cause.
> During this "cleansing" period in Matabeleland, Mugabe's soldiers proved to
> be more brutal and vicious than the ousted occupying forces; indeed,
> historians argue that their methods were much more brutal and devastating
> than those employed by the brutal colonial forces. Like other parts of
> Africa, the high hopes and sacrifices of a liberation war turned out to be
> little more than an avenue for the appropriation and abuse of political
> power by those – like Robert Mugabe - who posed as champions of freedom
> during the struggle for independence. The people of Zimbabwe had rallied
> behind the doctrines of their guerrilla movements, and their religious
> doctrines and institutions – both Western and African – to fight for the
> birth of a black nation free of the tyrannies, injustices, inequities, and
> bondage of White Rhodesia. In the "post-liberation" period, most
> Zimbabweans, particularly those considered to be on the wrong side of the
> new political dispensation – realized that attaining the liberation they
> fought for was far more complex and difficult than they could possibly have
> imagined. Common Zimbabweans who had sacrificed everything in support of the
> liberation struggle now discovered that the fruits of independence
> represented more of a pie in the sky than the readily available and abundant
> fruits of independence that they imagined. Most of them, particularly those
> considered to be Ndebele, as well as most youth and women, felt angry and
> betrayed as the Mugabe regime centralized its power and control of the
> state, and privileged pre-colonial and colonial authoritarian means of
> social control and coercion such as patriarchy and the police and military
> over the values of justice, equality and the rule of law.
>
> Are the British authorities, the British queen, the administrators of the
> so-called British commonwealth telling us that they were ignorant of these
> brutal purges Mugabe visited upon his own people as soon as the white
> colonial government was kicked out of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)? Are they
> telling us that they had all being unaware of Mugabe's criminal violations
> of human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe between 1980 and 1994? Why
> should the queen confer such a supposedly hallowed title on a ruler who had
> already spent fourteen years in power in an ostensibly democratic country?
> Would the queen confer such an honor on a British prime minister who hijacks
> the British peoples' rights to periodic change of leadership and stays
> continuously on in power for fourteen years? But of course, we do have such
> a thing as African democracy, which is different from the more civilized
> British democracy, right?
>
> So I contend that the queen should give us a break about stripping Mugabe
> of his so-called knighthood which he never deserved anyway, unless of
> course, being deserving of such an honor is judged by criteria pertinent to
> nothing more than being a good boy of British empire. Now of course, Mugabe
> is probably the worst British boy ever on account of his ceaseless rantings
> and vilifications of the pious British establishment.
>
> Thanks for sharing.
>
> Baba
>
>
> > Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:55:58 -0500> From: [log in to unmask]>
> Subject: FW: Queen Strips Mugabe of Knighthood [NY Times]> To:
> [log in to unmask]> > June 26, 2008> Queen Strips Mugabe of
> Knighthood By ALAN> COWELL<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/alan_cowell/index.html?inline=nyt-per>>
> > Queen Elizabeth II has stripped Robert> Mugabe<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/robert_mugabe/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,>
> Zimbabwe<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/zimbabwe/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>'s>
> strongman president for nearly 30 years, of his honorary knighthood as a>
> "mark of revulsion" at the human rights abuses and "abject disregard" for>
> democracy over which he has presided, the British Foreign Office announced>
> Wednesday.> > The rebuke showed the extent of international frustration over
> Mr. Mugabe's> insistence to go ahead with a presidential runoff on Friday,
> even though his> sole opponent, Morgan> Tsvangirai<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/morgan_tsvangirai/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,>
> pulled out of race on Sunday because of the persistent violence and>
> intimidation against him, his party and their supporters.> > Mr. Mugabe's
> government has had a long history of human rights abuses, but> he was
> granted an honorary knighthood during an official visit to England in> 1994
> when, the foreign office contends, "the conditions in Zimbabwe were> very
> different."> > But with the widespread attacks against the opposition, the
> foreign office> said the honor could no longer be justified. Stripping a
> dignitary of an> honorary knighthood is exceedingly rare. A foreign office
> spokesman could> think of only one other time it had been done — in 1989 to
> the Romanian> dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu.> > Mr. Tsvangirai, the beleaguered
> opposition leader, called on the United> Nations<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org>on>
> Wednesday to send a peacekeeping force to bring calm to the country> and>
> help pave the way for new elections in which he could participate as a>
> "legitimate candidate."> > "Zimbabwe will break if the world does not come
> to our aid," he said in an> op-ed in The Guardian newspaper in London. After
> weeks of mounting political> violence against the opposition and its
> supporters, Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew> from Friday's runoff and took refuge
> Sunday in the Dutch Embassy in Harare.> > He emerged from the embassy
> briefly on Wednesday to hold a news conference> at his home in which he
> challenged President Robert Mugabe to cancel the> runoff and open
> negotiations.> > But, he said, he was not prepared to deal with a government
> validated by an> election in which Mr. Mugabe is by default the only
> candidate. Mr. Mugabe> has insisted Friday's voting will go ahead.> > "We
> have said we are prepared to negotiate on this side of the 27th, not the>
> other side of the 27th," Mr. Tsvangirai said, according to Reuters.> > He
> listed four demands: an end to political violence; the resumption of>
> humanitarian aid; the swearing in of legislators elected in the first round>
> of voting on March 29; and the release of political prisoners.> > "We have
> always maintained that the Zimbabwean problem is an African problem> that
> requires an African solution," he said, referring to continent-wide and>
> regional African bodies including the Southern African Development>
> Community.> > "To this end, I am asking the African> Union<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/african_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org>and>
> S.A.D.C. to lead an expanded initiative, supported by the United> Nations,
> to manage the transitional process.> > "The transitional period would allow
> the country to heal," he said. "Genuine> and honest dialogue amongst
> Zimbabweans is the only way forward." He said he> wanted the African Union
> to endorse his proposals at a forthcoming summit> meeting in Egypt.> > Mr.
> Tsvangirai's demands coincided with a scramble of regional and>
> international diplomacy with many African and Western institutions saying>
> the vote on Friday will be neither free nor fair. A critical group of>
> southern African countries opened a meeting Wednesday in Swaziland to seek
> a> way out of the crisis.> > The meeting grouped leaders or ministers from
> Swaziland, Angola and Tanzania> — the so-called troika charged with
> responsibility for the region's> political, defense and security issues. The
> group said it had also invited> the leaders of Zambia and South Africa to
> attend, but President Thabo> Mbeki<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/thabo_mbeki/index.html?inline=nyt-per>of>
> South Africa, the regional mediator on the crisis in Zimbabwe, said> through
> a spokesman that he would not attend.> > The spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga,
> said in a telephone interview that South> Africa was not a member of the
> troika and had not been invited.> > Amid the international outcry over his
> government's handling of the crisis,> Mr. Mugabe, 84, was reported Tuesday
> as hinting that he might be open to> talks with the opposition, but only
> after Friday's vote confirmed his power.> > > He remained defiant about
> going ahead with the runoff.> > "They can shout as loud as they like from
> Washington or from London or from> any other quarter," Mr. Mugabe said in
> televised broadcasts. "Our people,> our people, only our people will decide
> and nobody else."> > Taken together, his remarks were the most explicit
> affirmation that he> intended to go through with an election widely
> condemned as illegitimate.> > But the hint of readiness to talk was also the
> first sign that Mr. Mugabe> might negotiate — as Mr. Mbeki has been urging
> him to do — once he has what> he can depict as a position of strength.> >
> The state-run Herald newspaper quoted Mr. Mugabe on Wednesday as saying:
> "We> are open, open to discussion but we have our own principles."> > The
> American ambassador in Harare, James McGee, has concluded that Mr.> Mugabe
> and his Zanu-PF party area determined to hold the runoff "at all> costs,"
> according to the State Department.> > "We've received reports that Zanu-PF
> will force people to vote on Friday and> also take action against those who
> refuse to vote," Mr. McGee said in a> conference call described by the State
> Department. "So, they're saying 'We> want an election at all costs. We want
> to validate Mr. Mugabe's victory> here.'" "There's really nothing that we
> can do here in the international> community to stop these elections," Mr.
> McGee said.> > The BBC quoted Jendayi Frazer, the State Department's
> assistant secretary of> state for African affairs, as saying Washington
> would not recognize the> outcome of the vote if it went forward.> > "People
> were being beaten and losing their lives just to exercise their> right to
> vote for their leadership so we cannot, under these conditions,> recognize
> the outcome if, in fact, this runoff goes forward," she was quoted> as
> saying.> > South Africa, the region's most influential player, has rejected
> outside> intervention in the crisis.> > In a statement on Tuesday, South
> Africa's ruling African National> Congress<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/african_national_congress/index.html?inline=nyt-org>insisted>
> that "any attempts by outside players to impose regime change will> merely
> deepen the crisis."> > While the A.N.C. statement came out with an unusually
> strong condemnation of> the Zimbabwean government, saying it was "riding
> roughshod over the hard-won> democratic rights" of its people, the party
> also insisted that outsiders had> no role to play in ending its current
> anguish.> > "It has always been and continues to be the view of our movement
> that the> challenges facing Zimbabwe can only be solved by the Zimbabweans>
> themselves," the statement said. "Nothing that has happened in the recent>
> months has persuaded us to revise that view."> > Despite that assessment,
> Prime Minister Gordon> Brown<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/gordon_brown/index.html?inline=nyt-per>of>
> Britain told Parliament on Wednesday, "We are preparing intensified>
> sanctions, financial and travel sanctions, against named members of the>
> Mugabe regime." That included a ban on the Zimbabwean cricket team to>
> prevent it from touring England, news agencies reported.> > The A.N.C.
> warned against international intervention a day after the United> Nations
> Security> Council<
> http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/security_council/index.html?inline=nyt-org>took>
> its first action on the electoral crisis in Zimbabwe, issuing a> unanimous
> statement condemning the widespread campaign of violence in the> country and
> calling on the government to free political prisoners and allow> the
> opposition to hold rallies.> > Writing in The Guardian, however, Mr.
> Tsvangirai, again took issue with Mr.> Mbeki's mediation, saying "it sought
> to massage a defeated dictator rather> than show him the door and prod him
> towards it."> > "We ask for the U.N. to go further than its recent
> resolution, condemning> the violence in Zimbabwe, to encompass an active
> isolation of the dictator> Mugabe," Mr. Tsvangirai said.> > "For this we
> need a force to protect the people. We do not want armed> conflict, but the
> people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation from> global leaders to be
> backed by the moral rectitude of military force. Such a> force would be in
> the role of peacekeepers, not troublemakers. They would> separate the people
> from their oppressors and cast the protective shield> around the democratic
> process for which Zimbabwe yearns," he said.> > "The next stage should be a
> new presidential election. This does indeed> burden Zimbabwe and create an
> atmosphere of limbo. Yet there is hardly a> scenario that does not carry an
> element of pain. The reality is that a new> election, devoid of violence and
> intimidation, is the only way to put> Zimbabwe right," Mr. Tsvangirai said.>
> > It was not immediately clear how other African nations would respond to
> Mr.> Tsvangirai's call.> > The A.N.C. statement, which was the first
> official response from South> Africa since Mr. Tsvangirai's withdrawal, was
> not signed by any individual> in the A.N.C. It seemed to represent a marked
> departure from Mr. Mbeki's> refusal to castigate Mr. Mugabe, and seemed to
> reflect the increasing> frustration with the Zimbabwean president.> > At the
> same time, in what seemed a clear rebuke to the efforts of Western> nations
> to take an aggressive stance against the Zimbabwean government, the> A.N.C.
> included a lengthy criticism of the "arbitrary, capricious power"> exerted
> by Africa's colonial masters and cited the subsequent struggle by> African
> nations to gain freedoms and rights.> > "No colonial power in Africa, least
> of all Britain in its colony of> 'Rhodesia' ever demonstrated any respect
> for these principles," the A.N.C.> said, referring to Zimbabwe before its
> independence.> > Zimbabwe, once one of Africa's most prosperous countries,
> has been reeling> from a widening campaign of violence and intimidation
> since Mr. Mugabe,> Zimbabwe's president for nearly 30 years, came in second
> in the initial> round of voting on March 29.> > In a show of support for the
> opposition, the powerful Congress of South> African Trade Unions declared on
> Tuesday that it was "appalled at the levels> of violence and intimidation
> being inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe by> the illegitimate Mugabe
> regime."> > "The June 27 presidential election is not an election, but a
> declaration of> war against the people of Zimbabwe by the ruling party," the
> union group> said.> > Urging a boycott of Zimbabwe, it said: "We call on all
> our unions and those> everywhere else in the world to make sure that they
> never ever serve Mugabe> anywhere, including at airports, restaurants,
> shops, etc.> > "Further, we call on all workers and citizens of the world
> never to allow> Mugabe to set foot in their countries."> > Celia W. Dugger
> and Barry Bearak contributed reporting from Johannesburg.> >
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