Dictators vs Africa a Smackdown
Dictator 1- Africa 0
There is something sweet and addictive about African power that leads the noblest men down the path of destruction, violence, and the complete and utter disregard for the rule of law and the ultimate individual rights of the people their rule.
Of the roughly 50 dictatorships in the world currently, Africa boasts the highest number of dictatorships, about 31 countries on the continent are currently under a dictatorship or some form of autocratic rule.
Now maybe this might be a curse (just saying), or there is just something about maintaining power on this continent that is addictive. This has sadly ushered into many states a certain type of politics that is both backward, and detrimental to the overall development of the country.
History has a large role to play in the outcome of the manner in which African states are being ruled today, the little disregard there is for human life, and the value it produces. Recent, electoral events in Uganda have highlighted once again the need for political reform on the continent and the reason why the culture of dictatorships needs to be dealt with immediately.
Last week there was hope across the continent as Ugandans went to cast their vote for the 2021 presidential elections. The presidential hopeful the young and vibrant Robert Kyagulani Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine was not only carrying the hope of 80% of the youthful population (of which 77% are under the age of 25 years of age) but also the hope of many Africans. The significance of this election was that it would mark the end of a 35-year rule by the incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Museveni like many of our African leaders today was once a liberator and freedom fighter, an educated and well-learned man in the social sciences, Museveni was one of the few African leaders to write on the practicability of Fanon in African politics. He successfully fought against the regimes of Idi Amin Dada and Milton Obote.
His rise to political fame was definitely one for the history books, however, it is his rule and eventual disregard for the rule of law that has erased his legacy, or rather changed his legacy from liberator to tyrant.
Museveni is not alone in this crusade of who can outlast who on the seat of power, there is the ever absent but present Paul Biya- who his ‘ruling’ over a divided country for more than 40 years. There is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea (41 Years), Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo (36 years), Idriss Deby of Chad (30 years ) just to name a few, and lest we forget those who have died on the seat of power, like the late Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi who was in power for 15 years, from 2005 till his death in 2020.
This trend has been ongoing on the continent for decades and the international community and in the name of diplomacy and respecting the sovereignty of these states have allowed for such regimes to continue, one can almost see the logic in this approach.
We can not rely on regional institutions to intervene in these cases because as luck might have it, these regional institutions are run by there very people we are trying to oust.
What can we take away from the Ugandan elections and the manner in which Bobi Wine has been maltreated and brutalized by the police in Uganda over the past few months and weeks leading to the elections?
Well, the first thing is that there are definitely reasons why individuals would want absolute power to rule over their people. Primarily is the protection of certain political and economic interests and then there is the rather covert complicity of global governance institutions in the affairs of such states.
Indeed, as limited power that we as the working class might have, and our inability to create effective change, only history is the true judge of these individuals and it will judge them harshly for the manner in which they ruled over their people.
