Madam, - I ask you and your readers to compare and contrast the situations in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Following the disputed elections in Kenya in which approximately 1,000 people were killed in post-election violence and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their homes and livelihoods, there is still no functioning Kenyan government, despite the patient and apparently successful mediation efforts by Kofi Annan.
In the aftermath of the Zimbabwe elections, the results of the presidential election have not yet been released, 11 days after polling closed. This is despite the announcement of the Southern African Development Community electoral mission that the elections were a "peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe".
Surely a credible expression of the people's will requires the timely announcement of credible results! As the election crisis mounts, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai is calling on regional leaders to intervene and not "wait for dead bodies".
Africa is not a monolith. In contrast to situation in Kenya and Zimbabwe, earlier this month, President Mogae of Botswana resigned after a decade in his post to make way for a new president. Although Botswana has its challenges, not least HIV/Aids, it has the highest GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa.
Is the relative success and prosperity of Botswana due to its receipt of more development aid than other countries? I very much doubt it. Perhaps it has more to do with political stability, and its ability to quietly transfer power from one president to another and to govern in the interests of its citizens.
- Yours, etc,
Dr LF LACEY, Skerries, Co Dublin.