Obasanjo Leave Dr. Kaunda alone
The story that THE chairman of the African Union (AU) Olusegun Obasanjo has revoked the appointment of former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda as the special envoy to help resolve the political crisis in Togo makes sad reading and indeed I feel insulted as a Zambian that Obasanjo can revoke KK's appointment citing such frivolous reasons as that "Kaunda has shown little willingness in bringing unit to the political divisions in his own country".
The question i may ask Obasanjo is what expirience does he have in as far as contributing to peace processes in africa apart from the ECOWAS joke compared to our stateman Dr Kaunda? He like Goerge Bush of the USA wants to be the head boy of Africa. This same Obasanjo has lamentably failed to unity his own Vast nation. There are constant battles between Sharias and the Christians while he is busy globe troting beging for aid despite the fact that his country is the world's sixth largest exporter of Oil. He reigns over a A country where desperate women must hijack oil executives and threaten to undress so as to embarrass the government enough to get it to lift them out of their grinding poverty?
Now he has the guts to veto the decision made the technocrats (Proffessionals)of the AU- people who aught to know better than him simply because he was not consulted. Obasanjo needs to be reminded that his AU and ECOWAS reaction to the accession of Faure to replace his father the late President Eyadema, has caused a storm that has already caused deaths in Lome and could swallow more innocent Togolese while Obasanjo plays the righteous African Statesman.
First of all his condemnation of the decision taken by the military and parliament in Togo to replace Eyadema with his son was uncalled for. Didnt the military replace Kabila with his son in Congo? Had it not been as a result of Obasanjo's misdirected charisma, the situation in Togo would not have deteriorated.
I wish to advise Obasanjo not to behave like some western embassies that have become virtual parallel governments in our capitals in Africa while in many countries strong leaders have become stronger because of these weaknesses. Ask Thabo Mbeki who shepard’s the new South Africa, just 10 years after Apartheid. Sources say the Africa National Congress (ANC) leadership is exhibiting a sycophantic loyalty to him. They have clustered around him and work to exclude those who criticize him. In the great lakes General Museveni is an autocrat, General Paul Kagame in Rwanda a virtual despot, Joseph Kabila succeeded his father, even a reluctant Kibaki, a shadow of Moi with a dominatress for a wife is being called to be more firm , Bashir is a warlord in Sudan while both Ghadaffi and Mubarak reportedly have succession plans linked to their children. A day after Faure took power it was reported in Libya that both President Mamadou Tandja of Niger and Museveni called Ghaddafi; I wonder what insights they were sharing about the leaders club in Africa.
Simply put, If Obasanjo should invest his charisma, let him invest it in reducing the number of poor people in his vast nation which despite being the sixth largest oil exporter is one of the poorest nations in the world and Obasanjo routinely travels abroad to beg for aid. Is that what he has got to show for his democracy?