No Winners in Africa?

So, despite losing by an overwhelming tally, former warlord and election runner up Jean-Pierre bemba and his destabilizing minions are raising hell (this is a dual M&G editorial -- scroll about halfway down though the first half, on ANC shenanigans, is worth reading as well) and making a mess of things. My good friend Dave has been monitoring the elections with the Carter Center, has been to Kinshasa several times, and as an indication of just how far the Congo has to go to become a viable democracy, he told me that the election was generally as fine as could be expected. 250,000 votes here and there went missing, but since those losses were fairly equal on both sides, he thinks the general outcome reflects the will of the population. Ye gads.

And don't expect a quick fix in the Congo either. Today's New York Times reports how seven years after democratization supposedly finally settled over Nigeria the country is still beset by corruption, chaos, violence and instability. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation. The Congo is vast and decentralized. If both became truly healthy democracies they could pave the way, alongside South Africa, for a true African Renaissance. As it is, however, they stand as the embodiment of the Big Man Syndrome, of the politics of anarchy, and of the deleterious role of western indifference to anything outside of plundering the spoils of natural resources.