No ‘African solution’ to African problems

THE African Union (AU) and member countries may quite sincerely want to find African solutions to African problems, but they still have a long way to go.

They’ve been tested, and found wanting, in too many cases to date.After the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) which came about as a result of still incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to leave office after elections in November last year in which Alassane Ouattara was widely seen to be the victor, the African Union came out with what appeared at the time to be an unusually decisive action to call on Gbagbo to step down or face military action.This consensus has now apparently waned. It was then followed by numerous interventions by one African head of state after another – from former South African President Thabo Mbeki to Kenya’s Raila Odinga – in an attempt to break the deadlock. These missions likewise met with failure.Gbagbo remains intransigent, insisting he won the elections; and the apparent victor, Ouattara, continues to be holed up in an Abidjan hotel.Three months have passed without a resolution to this impasse.Only this week President Hifikepunye Pohamba returned from a Peace and Security Council meeting of the African Union, expressed ‘concern’ about the situation saying he supported ‘peaceful negotiation’ for a solution to the deadlock.It is the first time since November that Namibia has spoken to the issue of Ivory Coast, and it was a lukewarm and unimpressive stance taken by Pohamba in our view, which doesn’t lend itself to the ideal of ‘African solutions to African problems’.He has now pledged to throw his weight behind efforts of Ecowas, the AU and the international community ‘aimed at a durable peace, where democracy prevails and the will of the people is respected’.How can democracy prevail and the will of the people be respected, when the person they voted into power continues to hide out in a hotel, while the person he ousted in elections continues to force himself upon both his own country and Africa as a whole.At least the European Union (EU) has taken some steps against Gbagbo, only this week slapping sanctions on six more Ivorians, including West Africa’s former central bank governor, and two national banks on Wednesday, because of ties to outcast leader Laurent Gbagbo. Ouattara has maintained that the bankrolling of Gbagbo’s regime continues to maintain the ousted leader in power.UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon has called on Gbagbo to respect the election result and to step down, confirming that there had been a ‘clear winner’ in the contest, which is Ouattara.The situation in Cote d’Ivoire will continue to be fragile and uncertain for as long as the deadlock continues and African leaders are not helping a solution by the constant appeasement of Gbagbo.Now a panel has to be set up which, according to the Mauritanian President ‘will deliver its conclusions within a month and its decisions will be binding for all Ivorian parties’. We have the feeling we’ve heard this before. And all of a sudden the two parties will be required to ‘negotiate face to face’.The AU has therefore stepped back from its initial stance that Ouattara was the winner and the outcome must be respected.As Odinga rightly stated: ‘every day lost in moving towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis makes more imminent the spectre of further threats to peace and security in Cote d’Ivoire and the region’. Another month for the panel to decide simply adds to the uncertainty.We are certain that most Namibians would support our call for our President to take a more decisive stance in matters regarding the African Union and situations as is currently the case with the Ivory Coast.African leaders continue to maintain the righteousness of respecting the outcome of democratic contests, but this is one case where they have clearly failed to do so.