AFRICA'S DISGRACE

by RAY FLEMING
WHAT is Mugabe up to? A week is long enough to count the votes in any election, no matter how carefully they have to be scrutinised. The fact that he has been able to persuade the Election Commission to delay matters suggests that he is still capable of persuading it to adjust the figures so that the outcome does not disgrace him and provides a launching pad for a run-off against Morgan Tsvangirai. The reappearance in Harare on Friday of his War Veterans and increased activity by the police are worrying signs and suggest that the run-off, if it takes place, will be a rough business. Intervention of any kind by Western countries at this moment would be unwise. However, it is reasonable to ask what role other African countries are playing in persuading Mugabe and his advisors that they should respect the Zimbabwean peoples' opinion and not seek to overturn it once again. It is astonishing that the most influential African leader, South Africa's Tbao Mbeki, has been at a pre-arranged conference in London for the past two days. Of course, today's communications are fast and reliable, but he really should have remained at home to exercise the quiet diplomacy of which he always boasts. I seldom agree 100 per cent with Condoleezza Rice but when she said this week that “The Mugabe regime is a disgrace to the people of Zimbabwe and a disgrace to southern Africa and the African continent as a whole” she was dead right.