Africa's old guard
By A.R.M. Babu
As one after another of Africa's strong men come under siege, two of the most powerful — President Mobutu Seseko of Zaire and President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya — are counting their final days. During the Cold War they ranked as Africa's leading anti-communist warriors. Today they are of no use to anybody except their enfeebled armies, which are determined to hold onto power for as long as they can.
The two presidents are easily the richest Africans on the continent, while their people are among the poorest. The national debt of Zaire is $5 billion; Mobutu's private fortune is roughly the equivalent. Arap Moi's wealth is not far behind.
Their subjects in both countries are now demanding change. But so far they lack effective means to bring that about. In the case of Zaire, none of the leaders of the opposition can qualify as a "Mr Clean". Almost all are associated with Mobutu either as ministers in his government or as close presidential aides.
The country, which has seen no development since its violent independence in 1960, is now completely bankrupt as foreigners and locals scramble to escape with every single diamond they can lay their hands on while corrupt politicians are temporarily diverted elsewhere.
While the Belgians and French as regional powers are determined to get rid of Mobutu as a source of acute international embarrassment, the US still regards him as the only leader who can save the country from chaos. But all evidence indicates that it is Mobutu who is the cause of, not the solution to, impending civil strife.
In Kenya the US stand is different. Here Washington sees many possible alternatives to Moi and wants him out. But the regional power is Britain, which will happily go on doing business with him provided he makes occasional gestures towards human rights. Moi's track record stinks, according to the British liberal media. The public views him as presiding over a morally bankrupt, commercially corrupt government. But powerful backers in the British establishment continue to look the other way when he commits the atrocities almost routinely exposed by Amnesty International.
Unlike Zaire, however, the opposition in Kenya is morally credible, enjoying genuine support from the people. But the system is so oppressive the opposition so far has been unable to mobilise a popular challenge to the regime. The one issue that could dent Moi's image even among his hard core British supporters is the murder of Moi's former foreign minister Robert Ouko. Shot in the head, his half-charred body was found a few miles from his home last year. While a public inquiry is still going on in Kenya, Ouko's brother, Eston Barraka Mbajah, recently filed an affidavit accusing energy minister Nicholas Biwott among others of complicity in the murder. Ouko had been suspended after insisting that all government ministers return their foreign bank accounts for investment in local enterprises. Biwott is alleged to have stashed a private fortune worth $200 million overseas.
As the tale of these two presidents suggests, Africa like the rest of the world is in turmoil. Neither Mobutu nor Moi will accept that their time is up. It may take several social upheavals, but the reality is that this corrupt old guard must go, whether their foreign backers agree or not.
[Pacific News Service/Pegasus. A.R.M. Babu is a former economic development minister of Tanzania.]