Governance is not going well in some African countries at the moment. In the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo is refusing to step down from the presidency after losing last month’s election to Alassane Outtara; the country is on the brink of reverting to civil war. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is up to his old tricks, calling for new elections with the associated violence against the majority who voted him out last time. In Kenya, the political elite have voted to withdraw from the International Criminal Court because of the fear that some politicians could be held to account for their crimes.
Ethnically and culturally the three countries are very different, but their governance problems are very similar. In each case the person currently acting as president was voted out by the people at the last elections but used force to cling to power. In each case this has led to rioting, violence and many deaths, but these have been of little concern to the presidents, who have been able to maintain luxurious lifestyles at their countries’ expense.
Last week, the Kenyan parliament passed a motion calling on the government to withdraw from the ICC. The recent naming of six suspects to be tried by the ICC for their role in post-election violence has not gone down well with the political elite, who have been accustomed to the impunity from prosecution which they have enjoyed for many decades. The media are predicting that the country will pay a high price for the parliament’s actions.