Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Mugabe, as he put it before the election, was "hungry" and that meant for at least the false trappings of victory.  As a consequence his paid thugs went to work rounding up people to vote.  As John Simpson of the BBC noted in an on the scene video report, anyone seen on Zimbabwe's streets not bearing an election mark, indicating having voted, was risking one's life.

Into this tragic picture has stepped Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.  Speaking from Nairobi on Monday, Odinga has urged the African Union to suspend Mugabe until he allows "free and fair elections."

Speaking to reporters, Odinga, in quoting the BBC report, said:

"They should suspend him and send peace forces to Zimbabwe to ensure free and fair elections."

Odinga, a vocal critic of Mugabe, declared that the African Union would set a dangerous precedent by accepting the Zimbabwe dictator as "a duly elected president."

Odinga's statement comes on the cusp of a United Nations urging that African leaders seek a negotiated solution to the Zimbabwe crisis.

Certain African affairs analysts see Kenya as a current example of political conflict resolution.  They point to the fact that Raila Odinga was named prime minister as part of a power-sharing arrangement to end political violence in which some 1,500 people were killed as a result of many ethnic clashes.

Mugabe's strongest supporter among African leaders comes from the continent's longest serving leader, Gabon Presideent Omar Bongo, who said in reference to Sunday's announced presidential vote, "He was elected, he took an oath, and he is here with us, so he is president."

Peter Biles, the BBC's southern Africa correspondent, says that "apart from the recent political violence in Zimbabwe, there is continuing economic hardship, with inflation in the region of nine million per cent and the country heading for the worst harvest in 60 years."

The argument of President Bongo that since an advertised and heavily orchestrated presidential election has concluded and Mugabe emerged and was quickly sworn in for another term does not confront the reality of what really happened.

Robert Mugabe took the reins of power in the nation after white rule in the former Rhodesia ended in 1980.  He is the only leader to hold power from that point henceforward.  

While Zimbabwe's masses have suffered with economic hardship rife amid his Aids-HIV figures, Mugabe remains adamant, considering Zimbabwe to be his private principality.

It is time for the African Union to take action and for leadership within the continent to realize that Mugabe is a tragic representative of what a forward reaching, democratic Africa that needs to be realized, must ultimately defeat.

The people of Zimbabwe must have the ultimate voice, those who have been frightened as their countrymen have been brutally killed while Mugabe has amassed a personal fortune.

In the interest of human decency and the furtherance of democratic stability, it is time for Robert Mugabe to go.