Photo by openDemocracy
The President of Botswana has broken ranks with most of his African colleagues, and called Robert Mugabe’s so-called re-election to the presidency of Zimbabwe what it is: a farce.
“Botswana does not accept the result of the June 27 run-off election in Zimbabwe, as it violated the core principles of SADC, the African Union and the United Nations,” a Foreign Ministry statement read.
But President Seretse Khama Ian Khama went even further; according to the statement, he will be boycotting this weekend’s summit with Mugabe and the other southern African leaders.
It’s a crucial move, and one that I hope will encourage other southern African leaders (I’m talking to you, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma!) to speak out as well.
As I wrote in this Matador article last fall, much of the African leadership has been reluctant to criticize Mugabe openly – and their silence allows the Zimbabwean dictator to dismiss Western criticisms of his regime as mere neo-colonialism.
So thank you, Botswana! Let’s hope this is a positive sign for the future. Those sorts of signs have been all too rare in the Zimbabwean story of late.
Eva Holland
Eva Holland is a freelance writer, Senior Editor of World Hum and a longtime contributor to the Matador community. She lives in Canada’s Yukon Territory and blogs about Alaska and Yukon travel at Travelers North.
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