The despot circus endorses a new ring-leader

While the people of Egypt were fighting for their freedom, while the people of South Sudan voted overwhelmingly in favor of freedom from tyranny, while a democratically elected leader tried desperately to get the incumbent scoundrel to step down and hand over power, while an already deposed dictator fled from the wrath of the people he abused, and while fresh rebellion elsewhere was in the air, the established despots and wanna-be tyrants of Africa who make up the African Union (AU), voted in a new chairman.

And not surprisingly they endorsed a veteran with 30 years of ignominious rule adorning his résumé. All hail  Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the pride of Equatorial Guinea, proud ally of the oil-obsessed USA, and now ring-leader of Africa’s despot circus.

Forgive me for thinking that the evolution of man started, and then stopped abruptly in Africa too.

Gbagbo… just won't go

Is there something in the air or soil of Africa that nurtures despots, tyrants and just plain bad-ass politicians? Perhaps it’s the African sun? But whatever it is, I’m pretty sure that Africa hosts the majority of the world’s worst leaders [I use the word grudgingly].

The latest in a long line of despots whose minds have seemingly become frizzled by the African sun, and who refuse to relinquish their grip on power, is Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast. This Bgagbo of shit joins an ignominious assembly of scumbags, who desperately cling to power, and whose utter disregard for humanity is legendary:

• Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe [30 years]
• Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan [21 years]
• Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya [41 years]
• Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea [31 years]
• Yoweri Museveni of Uganda [24 years]
• Paul Biya of Cameroon [28 years]
• Yahya Jammeh of Gambia [16 years, and oh, get a load of this cretin’s shameless vanity in insisting that he be addressed as His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh]

For a more comprehensive [but not definitive] list, which incorporates crackpots from all over the world, visit foreignpolicy.com. And this is just a list of the current filth that pollutes world’s political stage. Let’s not even consider the likes of Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko and Jean Bedel Bokassa. The most striking thing about these scum of the earth, is that they would most likely have at some stage in their rotten lives, spoken out against European or Western imperialism and colonialism. So what turns self-proclaimed liberators into fascists?

Do we in South Africa have anything to worry about? Not with Jacob Zuma, I don’t think; it’s abundantly clear he’s just a puppet. However, with the likes of Julius Malema, idling in the wings, mouthing off about revolutionaries on the one hand and agents on the other, I think we need to be extra vigilant…