Thabo Mbeki’s Resignation and the Changing Face of Leadership in Africa
By Ajong Mbapndah L*
It was predicted by some newspapers but few thought it feasible that President Thabo Mbeki will be forced to resign from office by his party, the ruling African National Congress-ANC.To doubting Thomas’s, the rarity of such a precedence in African politics tailored thinking. Effectively, the ANC , the party that Mbeki grew within the ranks and used as a platform to serve as two term President of the Republic of South Africa had served him a quit notice. With a few more months left to the expiration of his second and last mandate, President Thabo Mbeki wrote a glorious chapter in the history of African politics by yielding to the dictates of his party and stepping down with grace. In a continent where many leaders still find it anathema to consider life after or without the presidency, Thabo Mbeki’s resignation marks a huge milestone in the struggle for democracy in Africa.
Africa boasts some of the longest serving leaders in any part of the world. Omar Bongo of Gabon has been in power since 1967,Paul Biya of Cameroon since 1982, Eduado Dos Santos of Angola since 1979,,Mubarak of Egypt since 1981, Mugabe of Zimbabwe since 1980,etc.Unfortunately the lengthy sojourns of most of these leaders in power only rivals with the porosity of their achievements. In the midst of huge resources denied many parts of the world, some of the leaders have excelled in driving potentially prosperous nations to the brink of collapse and ruin. In the face of their calamitous balance sheets, the people have limited options in effecting change as flawed elections are used by the leaders to perpetrate their grip on power. By bowing out without rancourous resistance to the decision of the ANC,Mbeki has set an example that is salutary and worth emulating.
President Mbeki’s undoing? He fired his former deputy and now the all powerful ANC leader Jacob Zuma who was embroid in a corruption scandal .ANC people believe that Jacob Zuma did not benefit enough from the presumption of innocence and his legal woes were a machination of President Mbeki to bar him from running for office when Presidential elections are due in early 2009.Signs that the sun was setting for President Mbeki were perceptible as early as last February when in a hotly contested election for the leadership of the ruling ANC,he was trounced by his former deputy Jacob Zuma despite his legal woes. The victory of Zuma created conflicting centres of power in South Africa. For instance where as President Mbeki was more cautious of his critique of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe , the ANC through its leader Jacob Zuma took a much more vocal hard stance .A High Court decision dropping the case against against Zuma because of its political undertones was the last nail on the political coffin of Mbeki. This paved the way for his resignation as President of South Africa though with a strong commitment in his ANC militancy.
Although people like Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu thought the ANC put its interest above that of the country, there is no denying that Mbeki’s popularity ratings had dropped very significantly. Sure there are others around the continent way more unpopular than him who have continued to hang on to power and some may even have a good laugh at the ouster of Mbeki, but at the end of day, Mbeki cuts a picture of a great statesman with a legacy of his own. Succeeding an iconic figure like Nelson Mandela was no easy feat at all. The style of leaderships was different, and by serving just one term despite the opportunities to serve another, Mandela set the bar very high too. By bowing out in style, Mbeki set a legacy of his own.
The African continent to many may not be making enough progress or fast enough despite its huge human and natural resources that make it a centre of great attention from the rest of the world. In the past, Europe thought it had everything under control, but of recent Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Koreans, and even the USA are showing greater interest .So how does the continent ensure that the increase attention serves as a catalyst to transform and move the continent forward? Certainly not with the old brand of leaders who have been around since the early days of independence.
Fortunately the emergence of a dynamic generation of young leaders offers rays of hope. In Senegal in 2000, a serving President Abdou Diouf was defeated by the opposition and he accepted the verdict of the polls.The civility with which he facilitated the transition of power to his successor and long time opposition challenger Abdoulaye Wade was historic.In Mali term limits imposed by the constitution were firmly respected by President Alpha Omar Konare who despite his relatively young age stepped aside after two four year terms.In Benin Mathieu Kereku set the stage for a flourishing democratic experience .His is a case worth citing over and over.Beaten by an opposition challenger in the first democratic election of his over a decade one man rule, he came back five years later and won another mandate. He went ahead to serve two terms and bowed out in consonance with constitutional provisions.In other former Presidents like Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique,Kenneth Kaounda of Zambia, Sam Nujoma of Namibia, Benjamin Nkapa of Tanzania, Quett Masire, and Festus Mogae of Botswana , Africa is building its own poll of respectable elder statesmen around the world.
Progress is certainly still too slow for comfort and this explains the surprise of many in Africa and around the world on the resignation of President Mbeki.So strong is the skepticism about Africa that attention was so focused on the elections and the ensuing crisis that gripped Zimbabwe and little or no attention at all to the exit of President Festus Mogae of Botswana in neighbouring Botswana.One of the most efficient leaders who presided over great economic growth and development in his country, President Mogae was leaving power in fulfillment of term limits imposed by the constitution of Botswana.
Examples like those of Mogae are however overshadowed by those of leaders like Paul Biya of Cameroon who despite a porous legacy after 25 years in power recently did away with term limits imposed by the constitution to facilitate more years in office for himself. Huge riots in February of 2008 to air amongst other frustrations the desire by Biya to change the constitution, brought the country to a standstill, took a heavy toll on human lives but did not stop him from pushing through his agenda using a majority obtained under questionable circumstances in parliament. Many pundits saw in the unrest warning signals for a serious showdown in the next Presidential elections billed for 2011.
Taking the will of the people for granted is proving increasingly costly and embarrassing for leaders. President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya can tell the story better, rigging the presidential polls of December 2007 when it was clear that it was Raila Odinga who actually won brought about unprecedented violence in the recent history of that country. A power sharing deal was the only way that bailed him out of a most uncomfortable situation with the entire world watching. Recently in Zimbabwe, even President Robert Mugabe agreed to a power sharing deal with the opposition after a stalemate resulting from elections. In Nigeria, attempts by President Obasanjo to grab a third term contrary to the dictates of the constitution were soundly rejected by the Nigerian legislature despite the fact that his party had a majority in the house. The rejection was based on pressure from Nigerians who promised hell to legislators who voted for it. Even the successor he hand picked to replace him has been a torn to his flesh with probes from the legislature that have exposed the galore of corruption and embezzlement that characterised his tenure. Some like Robert Guei of Ivory Coast and Didier Ratsiraka of Madagascar were literally chased out of power by an angry populace when they attempted to rig elections.
The African Union bars leaders who come to power through unconstitutional means from attending its sessions .The definition of unconstitutional however gives the impression that far from using it as a tool to promote democracy, this serves more as a tool to protect comrades in dire situations. A few leaders who use military coups to accede to power have had the doors of the African Union summits shut in their faces but the same has not been the case with leaders who excel in the ignoble art of flawed elections else how will one explain the presence of a leader like Mwai Kibaki at a Summit in the heat of controversy generated by elections he clearly did not win? How else does one explain the complacency of the African Union when leaders use unorthodox means to remain in power or tinker with constitutions so as to eternalise themselves in power?
Thabo Mbeki like every other leader had his flaws but his role in pushing for a more vibrant African Union and conflict resolution initiatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and in Zimbabwe at the moment have proved useful. He was one of the main architects of the New Partnership of African Development-NEPAD and alongside Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu provided a strong moral voice for the successive bid of South Africa to host the 2010 soccer world cup, the first on African soil. Many are those who would not have thought the kind of political maturity possible in Africa but far from been an isolated case, Mbeki’s bold decision is a sign of changing times. The people are getting more politically conscious, democracy is on the march, and it will eventually get the force of a tsunami that no one can stop.
* The writer edits the online monthly Pan African Visions www.panafricanvisions.com