News / Africa
Continent marks Africa Day as war rages in Libya
06 Jun 2011 at 09:49hrs | Views
The continent celebrates Africa Day Wednesday amid turmoil in Libya, where rebels are fighting to dislodge long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, while in Southern Africa, two sets of uncontested elections in South Africa and the Seychelles give hope for the continent's future.
Elsewhere, political strife overshadows the continent's huge economic growth over the last decade. Africa has in recent years experienced phenomenal economic growth -- with a prediction of around 5 percent in 2011 compared with last year's 4.5 percent.
Libya has been at war since February, with rebels being joined in the trenches by NATO forces led mainly by the United States, France and Britain.
The U.S. has scaled down operations in the country, even though its military presence is still being felt.
Still in North Africa, sustained popular revolts led to the demise of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Sporadic revolts in Algeria have largely been quelled.
In West Africa, former Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo was literally flushed out of a hole at his presidential residence by rival forces who were being supported by the French, while in Nigeria more than 800 people died in post-election violence that erupted in April following President Goodluck Jonathan's disputed victory.
Gbagbo, who now faces local and international prosecution, had refused to relinquish the presidency in favor of Alassane Ouattara, who had been recognized internationally as the winner of presidential elections held in the country last November. It took more than four months of fighting and a loss of more than 800 lives to remove the former strongman from power.
In East Africa, Ugandan President won a fourth term to lead the country in disputed elections which gave his rival and former personal doctor Kizza Besigye only 26 percent of the vote.
The only elections that have so far yielded no discontent are the local government and presidential ones held in South Africa and the Seychelles where incumbent parties' victories have not been contested.
African leaders are also getting increasingly worried about the West's involvement in the continent's wars in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya.
In March, African leaders meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss events in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya came up with four positions that could be key to shaping the continent's future.
They agreed to respect the outcome of elections, to be more democratic, to brook no extra-continental interference in Africa's affairs, and to protect their own interests to the hilt.
In accepting that their colleague Gbagbo had lost the election to Ouattara, they wanted to prove to the world that they were ready to join the club of democrats who support the outcome of elections and international consensus derived therefrom.
While the African leaders supported the position of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) that Gbagbo should cede power, they were opposed to a similar push by non- Africans, fearing that this could create a precedence which could also see them being removed from power with foreign intervention.
As for Libya, the leaders agreed that Gaddafi should institute reforms that give citizens more political space, openly admitting that the long-time leader, in power for the past 41 years, is too authoritarian.
Despite criticizing his tactics, the leaders back him, ostensibly to fend off future possibilities of becoming victims to western interference.
African Union chairperson and Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo said then that backing Gaddafi and demanding reforms was not a question of liking or disliking him, but that if anarchy was allowed to prevail, any of the leaders could also fall victim.
The Libyan issue will also be discussed at the AU summit in Addis Ababa Wednesday. Six former liberation movements from the Southern African Development Community and East Africa met in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam last May to see how they could fend off the perceived challenges from the West.
The movements were drawn from Zimbabwe (Zanu-PF), South Africa (ANC), Namibia (Swapo), Mozambique (Frelimo), Angola (MPLA) and Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi).All the movements have ruled their countries since independence, with Chama Cha Mapinduzi having been the longest in power since 1961.
Frelimo has been in power since 1975, Angola (1976), Zimbabwe (1980), Namibia (1990) and South Africa (1994).
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is on record blaming western interference for the problems dogging the country, especially after the West imposed what it called targeted sanctions on him and his inner circle over governance related matters.
He also blames the West of trying to effect regime change in the country and install a "puppet government" led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
There are many other pockets in Africa which are experiencing political problems, such as Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Swaziland, Sudan and Somalia, which the continent is grappling with.
The Somali problem dates back to 1991 following the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre (now late), who had led the country for 21 years.
After overthrowing the former dictator, the warlords turned their guns on each other, leading to one of the largest United Nations peace-keeping operations in any one country.
Tens of thousand of people have died since the civil war started and turned the country into clan fiefdoms.
Somalia is now regarded as a failed state with war and hunger ravaging the countryside while local pirates are on the forefront of attacking foreign ships in the Gulf of Aden and demanding huge ransoms.
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has been among the countries most hit by piracy.
Elsewhere, political strife overshadows the continent's huge economic growth over the last decade. Africa has in recent years experienced phenomenal economic growth -- with a prediction of around 5 percent in 2011 compared with last year's 4.5 percent.
Libya has been at war since February, with rebels being joined in the trenches by NATO forces led mainly by the United States, France and Britain.
The U.S. has scaled down operations in the country, even though its military presence is still being felt.
Still in North Africa, sustained popular revolts led to the demise of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Sporadic revolts in Algeria have largely been quelled.
In West Africa, former Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo was literally flushed out of a hole at his presidential residence by rival forces who were being supported by the French, while in Nigeria more than 800 people died in post-election violence that erupted in April following President Goodluck Jonathan's disputed victory.
Gbagbo, who now faces local and international prosecution, had refused to relinquish the presidency in favor of Alassane Ouattara, who had been recognized internationally as the winner of presidential elections held in the country last November. It took more than four months of fighting and a loss of more than 800 lives to remove the former strongman from power.
In East Africa, Ugandan President won a fourth term to lead the country in disputed elections which gave his rival and former personal doctor Kizza Besigye only 26 percent of the vote.
The only elections that have so far yielded no discontent are the local government and presidential ones held in South Africa and the Seychelles where incumbent parties' victories have not been contested.
African leaders are also getting increasingly worried about the West's involvement in the continent's wars in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya.
In March, African leaders meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss events in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya came up with four positions that could be key to shaping the continent's future.
They agreed to respect the outcome of elections, to be more democratic, to brook no extra-continental interference in Africa's affairs, and to protect their own interests to the hilt.
In accepting that their colleague Gbagbo had lost the election to Ouattara, they wanted to prove to the world that they were ready to join the club of democrats who support the outcome of elections and international consensus derived therefrom.
While the African leaders supported the position of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) that Gbagbo should cede power, they were opposed to a similar push by non- Africans, fearing that this could create a precedence which could also see them being removed from power with foreign intervention.
As for Libya, the leaders agreed that Gaddafi should institute reforms that give citizens more political space, openly admitting that the long-time leader, in power for the past 41 years, is too authoritarian.
Despite criticizing his tactics, the leaders back him, ostensibly to fend off future possibilities of becoming victims to western interference.
African Union chairperson and Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo said then that backing Gaddafi and demanding reforms was not a question of liking or disliking him, but that if anarchy was allowed to prevail, any of the leaders could also fall victim.
The Libyan issue will also be discussed at the AU summit in Addis Ababa Wednesday. Six former liberation movements from the Southern African Development Community and East Africa met in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam last May to see how they could fend off the perceived challenges from the West.
The movements were drawn from Zimbabwe (Zanu-PF), South Africa (ANC), Namibia (Swapo), Mozambique (Frelimo), Angola (MPLA) and Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi).All the movements have ruled their countries since independence, with Chama Cha Mapinduzi having been the longest in power since 1961.
Frelimo has been in power since 1975, Angola (1976), Zimbabwe (1980), Namibia (1990) and South Africa (1994).
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is on record blaming western interference for the problems dogging the country, especially after the West imposed what it called targeted sanctions on him and his inner circle over governance related matters.
He also blames the West of trying to effect regime change in the country and install a "puppet government" led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
There are many other pockets in Africa which are experiencing political problems, such as Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Swaziland, Sudan and Somalia, which the continent is grappling with.
The Somali problem dates back to 1991 following the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre (now late), who had led the country for 21 years.
After overthrowing the former dictator, the warlords turned their guns on each other, leading to one of the largest United Nations peace-keeping operations in any one country.
Tens of thousand of people have died since the civil war started and turned the country into clan fiefdoms.
Somalia is now regarded as a failed state with war and hunger ravaging the countryside while local pirates are on the forefront of attacking foreign ships in the Gulf of Aden and demanding huge ransoms.
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has been among the countries most hit by piracy.
Source - Xinhua
