Perhaps,
it would have not been thought possible that the revolution that started in
Tunisia would be alive till date. The contagion that followed it spread through
Algeria, Libya, Sudan, and Egypt in North Africa and then to Yemen, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria in the Middle East. The contagious effects occasioned
by popular demands of the people that unmasked the face of dogmatism and
brought an end to the tyranny of a few of Africa’s notorious oppressive
regimes. Consequently, Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali renounced power under
the pressure of mass protests and fled to abroad. President Muammar Gaddafi of
Libya, met his demise while attempting to resist the Benghazi led popular
demands; then came the fall of president Hosni Mubarak, who is presently
languishing in jail on charges of treason, and corruption. The fall of these figures
proved the reality that even such giants of Northern Africa often looked at as
hard nuts to crack, were as malleable as their subjects. The spirit of
revolution that swept off these unshakable gladiators only proved that no power
or might can short down the voice of the people.
From these lessons, serving African leaders are getting anxiously aware that their armored tanks which they often resolve to as tactics for public intimidation and suppression could kill people but can never kill the voice of the people. The present trends in Egypt, where Mohammed Morsi, elected in a majority vote with 51% victory, is deposed by the people with support from the Egyptian military, demonstrates a paradigm shift in African political thought process. While some quarters have termed it a democratic betrayal it seems to others, a timely inevitability in hams way. It epitomizes a test of democratic ethos threatened in a climate of mediocrity. For all that, history tells us that popular demands are a force to reckon with. Power hungry leaders often get trapped into the over-acceleration-power-trap. As says John Dalberg-Acton, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This phenomenon has been alive in the continent with fervent patronage from political elites and their cronies whom under the guise of partisanship, smack at demands for positive change with brutishness with utmost impunity. But results of popular take-overs are beginning to yield fruitful results. We have seen it happening in Egypt. The world watches with kin interest as the people insisted against the force of a ruthless Morsi's regime which too soon got its Achilles heels hard hit.
Could the pendulum of change be swinging at president El Bashir of Sudan, Joseph Kabila of DRC, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Yuweri Museveni of Uganda, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, to mention only a few. do I need to remind anyone that these are a few of many long serving African dictators? This questions are answered in the next paragraphs. watch out for it.
From these lessons, serving African leaders are getting anxiously aware that their armored tanks which they often resolve to as tactics for public intimidation and suppression could kill people but can never kill the voice of the people. The present trends in Egypt, where Mohammed Morsi, elected in a majority vote with 51% victory, is deposed by the people with support from the Egyptian military, demonstrates a paradigm shift in African political thought process. While some quarters have termed it a democratic betrayal it seems to others, a timely inevitability in hams way. It epitomizes a test of democratic ethos threatened in a climate of mediocrity. For all that, history tells us that popular demands are a force to reckon with. Power hungry leaders often get trapped into the over-acceleration-power-trap. As says John Dalberg-Acton, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This phenomenon has been alive in the continent with fervent patronage from political elites and their cronies whom under the guise of partisanship, smack at demands for positive change with brutishness with utmost impunity. But results of popular take-overs are beginning to yield fruitful results. We have seen it happening in Egypt. The world watches with kin interest as the people insisted against the force of a ruthless Morsi's regime which too soon got its Achilles heels hard hit.
Could the pendulum of change be swinging at president El Bashir of Sudan, Joseph Kabila of DRC, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Yuweri Museveni of Uganda, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, to mention only a few. do I need to remind anyone that these are a few of many long serving African dictators? This questions are answered in the next paragraphs. watch out for it.
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