OPINION:There must be no solidarity with mad men like Robert Mugabe. What is the point of groups like the African Union or the Southern African Development Community - their impotence and inability to act is embarrassing, writes Bryan Mukandi.
WERE CURRENT events in Zimbabwe not so tragic, they would be comical. An octogenarian who helped liberate a country from colonial rule recently stated that "only God" could remove him from office.
According to Robert Mugabe: "We will never allow an event like an election to reverse our independence, our sovereignty." And in case there was any danger of misinterpreting him, he added: "Only God who appointed me will remove me - not the [opposition] Movement for Democratic Change, not the British."
According to the MDC, around 70 of its members have been killed in the build-up to Friday's run-off presidential election. Activists have been tortured, burnt to death and beaten mercilessly.
Why? To keep a political establishment in power against the will of the people; because in too many places, might is still right; because all of us, the whole world, for whatever reason, find the death of an African that much more tolerable than that of an American or European.
I only left Zimbabwe a couple of years ago. I was there when the violence was arguably more intense and the government's agents and militia more brazen. That 70 people have died didn't really move me.
As a doctor working in internal medicine, our team could easily sign the same number of death certificates in a month. Poverty, starvation and disease can be just as brutal as a beating at the hands of militia drunk on violence and power.
People have been dying unnecessarily in Zimbabwe for a long time now and I suspect that 70 more do not unfortunately make that big a dent in the final total.
It was a while before I realised there was something wrong with my lack of feeling. I, like so many of us, have been conditioned to accept African suffering as the norm. One conflict after the other reinforces the idea that Africa is somehow different.
Some of our leaders discount the examples of stable western societies as something alien. They are seen as a destination over the horizon, pie in the sky, rather than a standard to be emulated now.
Zimbabwe, and the reaction to this episode epitomises all that is wrong with the continent. On the one hand, Mugabe speaks for many when he criticises the West for their condescension and interference in African affairs. He then goes on to make the strongest possible argument for external intervention by his actions.
The African Union (AU) tries to portray itself as a solid, functioning, self governing body but appears incapable of mounting a credible response to all but the most minor difficulties within its jurisdiction. The group's impotence is embarrassing. The lost opportunities are tragic.
In fairness, African leaders have begun to distance themselves from Mugabe and condemn his actions. But the phrase "too little, too late" comes to mind.
The dignity and respect that the continent seeks from the world must not come at the cost of the lives of her most vulnerable citizens. It is not shameful to ask for help. Covering up misrule and injustice out of fear of criticism and embarrassment on the other hand is despicable. There comes a time when the truth most be spoken, no matter how uncomfortable.
Robert Mugabe's past cannot be used to condone his present behaviour. There must be no solidarity with mad men. What is the point of having bodies like the AU or the Southern African Development Community (SADC) if it is left to the international community to highlight and work towards the resolution of crises like Darfur, Kenya and Zimbabwe?
When all is said and done however, it is Zimbabweans who need to find a solution to this crisis. We have watched our country go down the drain slowly but surely since soon after its inception. The very real threat of violence has meant that people have either voted with their feet, tried to pretend that things were fine, or colluded with the regime.
Only a small minority have had the courage to directly confront Mugabe and many of them have paid with their lives.
Things have deteriorated to the point where MDC leader and presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has decided to pull out of the election run-off between himself and Mugabe. The opposition has decided that they will not legitimise a process that is being manipulated by the ruling party.
The question on most Zimbabweans' mind is, "now what?"
I am fearful about what the future holds for Zimbabwe. There are no quick fix solutions. I am fearful about the consequences of this election not going ahead.
What does the future hold for my country and how will the ruling party react? If not through the ballot box, how will people express their frustration? Worst of all, does this send the message that violence works?
Even when eventually there is a change of government, it will be a while before Zimbabwe finally gets back to where it was in the late 1990s.
The worst thing that those in power have done is to create a dangerous mindset and legacy of fear, entitlement, force and violence. It will take much more to overcome these than it will to resurrect the economy.
In the words of Alan Paton in his wonderful novel Cry, the Beloved Country: "Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."
I blame those running Zimbabwe for the deaths and displacement of millions. I blame them for the ruined inheritance of millions of unborn children. I blame them for giving in to mankind's worst instincts and abusing their power.
And I pray that the country is rid of them sooner rather than later.
Bryan Mukandi lives in Galway and is an occasional columnist withThe Irish Times