Almost three years ago, I wrote a commentary in which I lamented that “genocide is taking place in the DR Congo … on a scale that threatens to surpass the horrors of Rwanda”. I also urged President Bush to do all in his power to end this genocide because:
We do not need another American President traveling to Congo in a few years to apologize for failing to intervene [as Clinton did in 1998 for failing to intervene in Rwanda]; nor should we wait for the movie ‘Hotel Congo’ to incite outrage about this crisis – after another 1 million Africans have been massacred.
But, with more people already dead in Congo than in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Darfur combined, and with as many women being raped in their homes as men being killed on the battle field, the extent and nature of the ongoing violence there are unconscionable – even by African standards. Which, alas, means that the producers of Hotel Congo will have enough raw footage to make a horror trilogy.
(Incidentally, I appreciate that the CBS program 60 Minutes deemed the genocide in Congo finally newsworthy enough for broadcast last Sunday night.)
Now comes Kenya. And despite being forlorn of hope for much of Africa, I am simply crestfallen by Kenya’s rapid descent into Rwandan-style ethnic warfare in recent weeks. After all, despite manifestations of congenital kleptocracy, it was just beginning to seem relatively worthy of being called a beacon of democracy on that Dark Continent.
But when President Mwai Kibaki and his ruling party refused to give up power after losing national elections on December 27, I was so mindful, indeed fearful, of the potential for widespread civil unrest that I wrote the following:
[T]his sets up the all-too-familiar prospect of Africans resorting to tribal warfare to settle their political disputes …. And those of us who are still hoping against hope for a political awakening in Africa cannot help but look on in despair as Kenya … descends back into the heart of darkness – where bloodlust gives rise to Idi Amins and Rwandan genocides….
Now, three weeks later, the situation there seems even more dire. Because Kibaki has vowed to use an iron fist to squash all protests called for this week by opposition leader Raila Odinga – who insists on being recognized as the duly elected president. And it does not augur well that the only dialogue Kibaki (L) and Odinga are engaging in these days is through the press to blame the increasing death toll on a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing by members of each other’s tribe.
According to the BBC, more than 600 people have been killed, and another quarter of a million have been driven from their homes….
Meanwhile, both sides seem impervious to diplomatic efforts to resolve this conflict. And this, despite overtures by everyone from African statesmen like Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former UN general secretary Kofi Annan to International mediators from the EU, UN, and US.
And with Bush now focusing on creating a legacy in the Middle East, he probably couldn’t care any less about what happens in Kenya. Although, in light of the fecklessness of his persistent diplomatic efforts to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur, who can blame him?
Of course, he’s understandably loath to send in the marines, the few who might be available, given the humiliating defeat they suffered after his Daddy deployed them to restore law and order in Somalia in late-1992. (Remember Black Hawk Down?)
Furthermore, even though the US is Kenya’s biggest aid donor, threatening to withhold aid is bound to have little or no impact. Because China would be all too willing to pick up the slack by providing as much, if not more, amoral and unconditional financial assistance; just as it did in coming to the aid of the perpetrators of the genocide in Darfur.
Therefore, as remembrances of things past in Rwanda unfold in Congo, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that Africans will settle their political conflicts on their own terms, and in their own time.
But frankly, with the continent’s most powerful leader, South African President Thabo Mbeki decrying “western solutions to African conflicts”, one can be forgiven the impression that Africans would rather resort to tribal warfare to settle political disputes – no matter how much that offends our western sensibilities.
When they get tired of killing each other, however, I’m sure they will welcome any assistance westerners can render to help them clean up the mess and reorganize their lives.
Related Articles:
Genocide in DR Congo: Rwanda with a vengeance
Kenya’s rigged elections
How African leaders codified right to abuse their people
Hollow apologies from Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan for Rwanda
Yes, save Darfur! But what about Zimbabwe
Kenya elections
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