Farren

I was just watching the late night news and felt inspired by the signs of meaningful democracy in africa.

Ironically, its presence is most evident in the political conflict that is happening on the continent.

In Kenya, the "Rainbow Coalition" of opposition parties which snatched power from the dictatorial Daniel Arap Moi in democratic elections are now at each others throats over a new constitution not even a year after elections. What's heartening is the level of public debate without corresponding violence and intimidation.

In Malawi, the incumbent president has failed in two bids to extend the term limits which will eject him next year and opposition parties have been strengthened by an outflow of his former supporters. As in Kenya, debate is public, civil and lacks the characteristic violence of the past.

In Zaire, President Musuweri is facing the possibility of impeachment by parlaiment for corruption. Ironically, the president won the elections with the promise to stamp out the endemic corruption of the former president's government and has visibly and aggressively pursued this goal.

The jury's still out on wether he himself is guilty of same, or a victim of political opportunism. He has actively pursued corruption within his own party and has been fair in dealing with the opposition and it seems the impeachment lobby, as well as his supporters, are evenly spread across both camps, so it could be a measure of his good work in this regard.

Finally Zimbabwe's neighbour Botswana, rated by Transparency International Africa's least corrupt and most well run state, continues to rail against the bad governance of Robert Mugabe's government as it faces a mounting refugee crisis, and South Africa whistles and looks the other way.

With the exception of Botswana, which has has a particularly good track record, the level of open and free dissent and debate in Africa 10-20 years ago didn't even approach the level it appears to be at today.

In the "Uhuru" era a great deal of emphasis was placed on the (real) evils and consequences of colonialism, while dictators stripped nations of their most valuable assets and the US, China, Cuba and the former Soviet Union helped decimate the continent in proxy wars.

Its heartening to see Africa emerging from these dark days. As an African, I'm immensely hopeful.

What's particularly noteworthy is that this change is happening at a time when foreign intervention has significantly decreased (apart from aid). This partially confirms my daoist/buddhist belief that military intervention by good-inentioned foreign powers rarely have the desired effect.

"Change," as the joke about the zen monk and the hotdog stand goes, "comes from within"

conkermaniac

Where exactly is Zaire and who is this President Musuweri? I thought that Zaire changed names to "Democratic Republic of the Congo" after the overthrow of (US-installed) dictator Joseph Mobutu and that their current president is Joseph Kabila, son of Laurent, who was assassinated shortly after Mobutu's overthrow.

The closest I can think of to "Musuweri" is "Museveni", the dictator of Uganda, if that's who you're talking about.

Gurdur

Transliteration of Bantu names into English often varies.

Zaire is still often called Zaire in everyday use, especially since there are actually two Congo's.
*shrug* Burma or Myanmer ? Usually Burma, so as not to dignify the military dictatorship's name-change.
Sri Lanka or Ceylon ? Or Serendip ? Usually Sri Lanka, with good reason.
Beijing or Peking ?

Also, if you think Museveni is a dictator, I respectfully suggest you re-examine both your conceptions and the evidence hard.

_________

And yes, democracy and civic political responsibility are making progess in sub-Saharan Africa, even when painfully.

conkermaniac

Oh no, Gurdur, I like Museveni. Probably one of the leaders that I admire most. He has handled the AIDS crisis well, and he has stamped out corruption. But even so, he is still a dictator ( the word "dictator" does not and should not have a negative connotation). He has suspended all other political parties, and he has stated that all Ugandans owe allegiance to his party. Now whether his intentions are good or bad, I really don't know, but any country in which only one political party is allowed by law is certainly not a democracy. However, Mr. Museveni claims that he is only temporarily suspending these parties because the country is in dire need of stability. Uganda just might qualify as one of the few countries in history to have a "benevolent dictator".

conkermaniac

Yes, but I don't think that there is any way that a name like Sassou-Nguesso or Kabila can possibly be mistransliterated into "Museweri".

One is the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), while the other one is simply called the Congo (technically, Republic of the Congo). However, there is often much confusion between the two. Many people use "Congo" when they really are referring to the DRC.

That's the US government's position on the issue, but most maps that I've seen refer to it as Myanmar anyway. I see very few maps with it labeled as "Burma", bar the extremely old ones.

Ceylon is outdated. I have never seen Sri Lanka called Ceylon, except on this replica of a map from 1500.

That's because of differences in transliteration. Beijing is a lot closer to the actual Chinese than Peking. Same with Taipei, which more accurately should be Taibei, but I guess we're just all used to the former.

Gurdur

Ah. Good-o. I am putting you back on my list of "People I Like, I.E. People Not To Be Rude To".


As for the rest, I merely wanted to illustrate to you the confusion and simultaneously-existing nomenclature often existing.
IOW, I was merely defending Farren.

P.S.
Since I lived for 12 years right next to Uganda at the time both Obote and then Amin were doing their respective massacres, and then Amin made the stupid mistake of invading the country I lived in, which directly led to a counter-invasion and his downfall, I tend to take quite an active interest in these things.

P.P.S.
Not as simple as that.
The one-party plus independents system worked reasonably well in Tanzania and elsewhere; perhaps as a short-term (20 years or so) transitional stage, it has a lot to be said for it.
Certainly more democratic than what went before; and not necessarily dictatorial at all.

Farren

Oops

I meant Zambia, not Zaire and the president in question is Mwanawasa. Late night posts. Ak.

Museveni has certainly stirred up some controversy with his curtailment of party politics but my understanding is, as Gurdur says, that independents may stand for political office.

Since Uganda has had one of the bloodiest histories in Africa there may be some wisdom in his policies. There was a real fear among some Ugandans that bickering parties could tear the country apart again.

Sometimes countries have to go through transitional phases on their way to idealized political solutions.

Its troublesome, however. Ten years ago Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe was a good place to be. Education was excellent and business was booming. Mugabe could have stepped down from the plate graciously and been remembered kindly by history, but hubris is destroying his legacy and his country.

conkermaniac

LOL, I didn't find your previous post rude at all. I've admired Museveni, and I didn't realize that others did too.

Obote and Amin were horrible leaders. Perhaps I shouldn't be criticizing different cultures, but the fact that Amin was a cannibal makes him even worse.

If it is only because of Uganda's troubled past that Museveni blocks political parties, then he should be credited for his wise and timely decision-making. However, at the same time, he could be doing this to keep power. We really don't know what goes in the minds of world leaders. In any case, I would love to see what happens if Museveni loses the 2006 election. If he steps down graciously, then he definitely is a leader to be remembered, not only in Ugandan history, but in the history of the entire continent and perhaps the world.

Aha, now it all makes sense. I was outraged when I heard Mwanawasa's rejection of food aid from the United States for his drought-starved people because they were genetically modified. While I respect his concern for the future of the nation's farming exports, his total disregard of his starving people of today just shocks me, especially when there is a simple solution.

Yeah, I've always wondered what happened to Mugabe. Could someone shed some light on this?

Misso

A - what I think - usefull distinction often made is to include the capital: the Republic of Congo would then be Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo would be Congo-Kinshasa.
Incidentally, what is it with English and the word 'the' in (amongst others) names of African countries, such as the Congo, the Sudan?

From what I understood, cannibalism wasn't that weird in Uganda in Amin's time. Eating the opponent is still seen by some as inheriting his strength. Amin certainly wasn't the only one - I even heard a story about a 'civilized' Englishman that went to this region and in a few years practiced cannibalism along with locals. From a western point of view it's a horrible thing to do, but it wasn't like Amin's actions were unheard of.

ohwilleke

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Misso
Incidentally, what is it with English and the word 'the' in (amongst others) names of African countries, such as the Congo, the Sudan?

A reference to "the Congo" is a reference to the river or river basin, as distinct from the countries. I can't speak to "the Sudan".

Of course, there are certain proper nouns that are always proceeded with "The" such as "The Ohio State University".