Sir, - Kevin Myers is appalled by the woes of Africa. Yes, it's truethat a continent carved up by European powers a century ago issuffering from a political and economic malaise that few could haveimagined four decades ago.
I worked in newly independent Ghana in 1960, the country which setthe pattern of the one-party state under Nkrumah, a pattern followed byMugabe in 1987 - all of which makes one wonder what has happened to thedemocratic machinery by which they won freedom from their colonialmasters.
Democracy is a western concept which has evolved down the centuriesthrough the intellectual and social developments of the Enlightenment.Many commentators forget that African countries of different ethnicgroups and languages and with a heritage of colonial rule entered theworld scene with very little in the way of political cement.
This is not to condone the thuggery of Mugabe's militia in therun-up to the election but to try to understand the tendency forone-party, strong-man, dictatorial rule in very young nations.
What can we do for Zimbabwe? What can we do for the millions ofAfrica with, in Kevin Myers's words, "its ceaseless diet of war, sorrowand disease"? After 80 years of colonial rule its leaders themselvesreproduced the worst aspects of the greed and elitism of the colonialpowers.
Against all the admonitions of economists, agriculture wasneglected, farming down-graded in favour of more glamorous industrialdevelopment. Failure and food shortages have brought with them adebilitating loss of confidence among Africans themselves.
Political stability in Zimbabwe and elsewhere can be restored. Nopurpose is served by railing against African leaders or judging themagainst the niceties of Western democracy. The peaceful transfer ofpower in neighbouring Zambia after 30 years of Kaunda, the founder ofthe state, can be a model. Mugabe is an old man and cannot have long towait for that grave in Heroes' Acre with his old companions in arms. Inthe meantime, Zimbabwe must rely on the assistance and good will of theWest to deal with its problems of the present and the future. - Yours,etc.,
JOHN F. FALLON,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.