The moment of truth nears for Africa, writes Gamal Nkrumah A fierce jostle has begun. Democratic rule in Africa is being undermined by the unconstitutional naming of sons of potentates as presidents after the deaths of their fathers. The death of Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema on 4 February triggered one such debacle for African democracy. The Togolese military promptly installed his son Faure as president, unleashing in the process a deluge of international condemnation. Among the fiercest critics of the Togolese authorities' move were Togo's neighbours in the 15-nation Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS). Togo, a member state of ECOWAS, was told in no uncertain terms to toe the democratic line. Most countries in the region now enjoy vibrant multi- party democracies and they do not want the Togolese move to tarnish the region's newfound image. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chairman of the African Union (AU), has emerged as the most vehement critic of the Togolese military's unconstitutional instalment of Eyadema the son as president. President Obasanjo, a onetime military ruler himself, relinquished power voluntarily and handed over to a civilian. Today, he is the democratically- elected leader of Africa's most populous nation, a country of 130 million people. Obasanjo is also the current head of the AU Peace and Security Committee. And, he is reputed to have "zero tolerance" for military autocrats. That is just the sort of political culture that Africa needs to start bidding its future. Obasanjo and other ECOWAS leaders have stressed that they cannot tolerate an undemocratic Togo in their midst. The message is likely to be underlined in even stronger terms as ECOWAS leaders move to tighten the noose around the neck of the Togolese military authorities by staging an economic blockade of Togo, a country that thrives on transit trade with its landlocked neighbours to the north. The speaker of the Togolese parliament was entitled under the terms of the country's 2002 constitution to become president upon Eyadema's demise. In the wake of Eyadema's death, he fled the country and has taken refuge in neighbouring Benin. Eyadema the father was an autocrat with a military background who had ruled Togo for almost four decades. Eyadema was Africa's longest-serving president, but he introduced cosmetic democratic changes before his death. His death, however, marked a return to absolute military dictatorship and totalitarianism. Private media radio and television stations were closed down, and the country was embroiled in a constitutional crisis as the Togolese authorities seem bent on stifling public debate. A delegation of ECOWAS high-level diplomats were dispatched to the Togolese capital Lome which was rocked by riots. ECOWAS leaders threatened to ostracise Togo, but the military rulers of the tiny West African nation of five million people, turned a deaf ear. ECOWAS leaders threatened to impose economic sanctions against Togo. Eyadema the son is a Western-educated reformer and was thought to be radically different in temperament and political orientation from his late father who usurped power in a bloody military coup d'état in 1967. But it appears that the Togolese army do not want to take the risk of creating a potentially dangerous power vacuum in which their powers would be eroded or drastically curtailed. The Togolese crisis spurred fears of a curtailment of democratic reforms in Africa. This is why it needs to be brought quickly to a happy conclusion. It is in the context of African crises such as the Togolese debacle and the humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur that donor nations are reviewing issues such as democracy, human rights, accountability, transparency and good governance in Africa. The onus now is on Africa's leaders. Much energy is still expended on pursuing grandiose goals of dubious values. African leaders need to get serious about reforming African political systems and economies before their time runs out. On the other hand, debt-ridden African countries must not continue to be at the mercy of the cumbersome process of appeals and pledges. The growing consensus on the critical importance of accelerating African development is, alas, not backed with more resources from rich nations. There is, indeed, another less tangible argument for a more rational approach to African development. Advocates of sustainable African development argue that more money is needed. And, there also needs to be agreement on how best to dispose of the available funds. Governments, development agencies and financial institutions could launch new financial tracking procedures to increase the transparency of their operations. The situation is very fluid. But there is a wider issue of concern both to the wealthy, industrially advanced countries of the North and the impoverished and underdeveloped countries of Africa. Some African countries have proved to be reluctant liberalisers. On the economic front as well, Africa's image has improved. The continent has largely caved in to pressures by the international financial institutions to privatise and liberalise. It was somewhat easier to understand, if not excuse, previous moves to limit the role of foreign investors in Africa. India, China and many other developing countries have behaved in similar ways in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, developing countries are competing with each other to attract foreign direct investment. Africa is a resource-rich continent, especially endowed with raw materials -- and especially oil, gas and minerals. The mining sector is the backbone of many African economies. The industry faces time-limited exploration problems and production licences are regularly put out to tender. The idea is to give African states the flexibility to reduce and dispose of their stakes in the mining industry through initial public offerings and ultimately to leave the leadership of the mining industry to the foreign-dominated private sector. The commanding heights of the African economy are still in foreign hands. It is in this context that peace, political stability and economic prosperity are linked. At the Conference of Peace and Security which took place in the German metropolis of Munich on 11 February Egypt highlighted the correlation between economic prosperity and peace and development. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit told delegates that world security is inextricably intertwined with political stability, economic development and prosperity. "We have first to recognise the interrelationship between peace, development, stability and security. The four are intertwined and must be considered as an integral whole. Any separation between them leads us to stray away from practicality and pragmatism," Abul-Gheit said. He stressed that poverty is a key factor in engendering armed conflicts. "These problems range from politico-military conflicts to socio-economic pressures, driven by poverty and deprivation and as a result of the new requirements brought upon by the push towards globalisation." The annual international security conference in Munich this year emphasised peace in the Middle East and the role of the United Nations in buttressing democracy and political reform in Africa. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the international community to help stop bloodshed in Darfur. "People are dying every single day while we fail to protect them. Additional measures are urgently required," Annan warned. He stressed that those organisations with "real capacity" such as NATO and the EU "must give serious consideration to what in practical terms, they can do to help end this [Darfur] tragedy." Furthermore, Annan urged the international community to help bring the perpetrators of violence in Darfur to book. "If perpetrators of mass atrocities are allowed to get away with their crimes, it only emboldens others to do the same," Annan said. "It would have been far better if the problems of governance that have long plagued Sudan had been addressed earlier." He urged world leaders to "deal with internal stresses before they erupt in conflict". With the notable exception of US President George W Bush, most world leaders advocated enhancing African development. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country will host the G8 summit this year, has made no secret of wanting to help Africa overcome poverty. Blair was making a statement of the obvious. He is also quite right to bring the question of African development out at this particular historical juncture. In a separate development, Hilary Benn, Blair's development minister, recently urged the international community to allocate a $1 billion annual fund that the UN could draw on to finance disaster relief. As important as such initiatives are, they leave much to be desired in terms of writing off Africa's debt -- the key to the continent's peace and prosperity.
