The “frontline states” of Southern Africa, so called because of their proximity to the former racist regime in Pretoria, played a great role in the fight against racism and colonialism. The former national liberation movements of these countries seemed to embody the spirit of resistance to colonialist occupation and were steadfast in their opposition to the aims of imperialist domination.
Today Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe as well as South Africa itself have today evolved into vibrant nation-states whose ruling political parties are facing electoral transitions and in some cases demands of democratic transparency.
The post-independence realities have created tremendous difficulties for the newly independent countries. In today’s post-Cold War world, the absence of the former Soviet Union as a fraternal socialist friend offering meaningful political and material support in solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles, is a factor that cannot be underestimated.
Having inherited centuries of colonial rule, the economic and political problems facing the leadership of these parties are immense. Neo-colonialism is still a reality as is political destabilization. The role of secret intelligence services like the CIA, with billion dollar secret budgets cannot be underestimated. They still retain the immediate goal of undermining developing African democracies and suppressing democratic initiatives. The murder of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo comes to mind, an incident long swept under the rug of the U.S. diplomatic ‘behind-the-scenes’ history, a filthy carpet that has never been taken to the cleaners.
The national liberation movement themselves have changed. Many, having once in their view prematurely declared themselves in the ‘80s as Marxist-Leninist parties, after the crisis of the ‘90s have returned to a broader definition of national tasks, including nation building, eliminating poverty, illiteracy and joblessness. In many of the ruling parties, nationalists, national democrats, socialists and communists continue to work together tackling the weighty problems of rebuilding their countries from the effects of decades of civil war and strife. In some, however, reactionary forces at home and abroad have succeeded in derailing what was once a revolutionary project. In all a fierce battle over direction and orientation is taking place.
As the process of democratic reform has taken root in Southern Africa the outside world watches from a distance for signals that transparency and maximum voter participation go hand-in-hand. Although multi-party elections are common, instances of overwhelming mandates in terms of popular support for established ruling parties have resulted in a phenomenon described as ‘elected one-party states.’
Where some election contests have been increasingly close, say for instance in Zimbabwe, dominant ruling parties have been significantly challenged by opposition groups. The overwhelming support and respect earned during the national liberation movement era does not automatically follow leadership personalities as the national political party organization evolves over time. The tendency of those in power demonstrating unwillingness to let go of political control has been a problem area that casts a shadow on the hopes and desires of the citizens.’
Notwithstanding these problems and in light of the decidedly left character of many of these movements, the fact of orderly transitions of power is a positive achievement that bodes well for the future. Below find a cursory review of recent electoral developments.
Namibia
An overview of recent elections in Namibia, clearly reinforces the overwhelming mandate by the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), as the ruling entity. The idea of establishing the people’s trust, and gaining voter’s confidence by party leader Sam Nujoma, and newly elected President Hifikepunye Pohamba, is a commentary on the long, protracted colonial war waged against the racists, who were gradually defeated by SWAPO with the backing of the people.
National unity is a major element and the historical experience of forging it has galvanized popular support behind SWAPO. The national hero for example of Namibian Woman’s Day (December 10), Kakurukaze Mungunda, referred to affectionately as ‘Mama Mungugna,’ was a symbol of resistance to colonial occupation by apartheid forces. One of 12 predominately women demonstrators killed on December, 10, 1959 during the Windhoek massacre, she approached a police vehicle and set it ablaze with a match despite a fatal bullet wound to the chest.
The history of Namibia and the years under “terrorist” occupation by the forces of repression and genocide, is a shocking account that encompasses the systematic extermination in 1903 of the indigenous Herero people who lost their cattle herds to the ‘settlers.’ German colonial authorities poisoned their watering holes and machine gunned the local population at will. Laws were introduced depriving Africans from possessing cattle or land. Workers on settler farms were kept in virtual slavery, with settlers legally empowered to use corporal punishment in the form of whippings and other barbaric methods.
With a population approaching two million citizens, Namibian presidential and parliamentary elections occurred in 2004. SWAPO received 76 percent of the presidential vote and a total of 55 of 78 parliament seats. The closest challenger received only 7.3 percent of presidential votes.
Seventy-five year old President Sam Nujoma had announced his retirement, which began when his five-year term was officially over in March, 2005. Nujoma began his political career as head of the Owamboland Peoples Organization in 1959, the group that evolved into SWAPO. He became the first elected president following independence in 1990.
Mozambique
The outcome of presidential elections in Mozambique in December 2004, favored the FRELIMO candidate Armando Emilio Guebuza, who won 63.7 percent of the popular vote. The leading opposition party, RENAMO, whose candidate, Afonso Dhlakama, with 31.74 percent, appealed to the Constitutional Council of Mozambique to annul the results because of alleged irregularities but was turned down because of a missed deadline.
Some international observers concluded that the irregularities were not significant enough to change the outcome. FRELIMO’s Guebuza won by over a million votes. Guebuza’s inauguration occurred in February, 2005.
On the parliamentary level, FRELIMO took 160 out of 250 seats.The outgoing president, Joaquim Alberto Chissano, had replaced former leader and freedom fighter, Samora Machel, when his plane crashed in 1986. Chissano had won multi-party elections in 1994 and 1999. He served as African Union Chairman from July 2003 to July 2004. He voluntarily chose not to run for another term in the recent election. FRELIMO won a popular victory after an armed struggle against Portuguese colonial authorities. The national liberation war began in 1962 and celebrated victory in 1975. Upwards of 70,000 Portuguese troops were unable to put down the FRELIMO insurgency. The original FRELIMO leader Eduardo Mondlane, was assassinated by a mail bomb in 1969. This writer recalls reading his personal correspondence many years ago in the alumni archives of Oberlin College, which he attended for a period of time during his educational years.
As a formal colony of Portugal, the population speaks Portuguese, as well as 13 other main national languages. Twice the size of California, male life expectancy in Mozambique is around 38 years, with infant mortality at 137.08/per 1000 live births. 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line.
Angola
Angola has not held elections since 1992. At that time the MPLA, as an incumbent party, won by a narrow margin in a multi-party contest. That election took place following a civil war that endured for 15 years between the MPLA and UNITA The peace agreement that allowed an election to occur was only temporary. Ten more years of vicious fighting transpired. Over one million people are estimated to have died since 1975 due to armed conflict. The damage done to the country’s infrastructure from the effects of warfare has impeded developmental progress. The death of former apartheid South African collaborator Jonas Savimbi, who led UNITA. resulted in a new opportunity for a peaceful resolution.
The Angolan government has a stated goal of 2006 elections. A multitude of problems place the country in the lowest level of UN indices that measure world poverty. One in four children die before age five, life expectancy is 40 years old, and only half of the population has clean drinking water. Twenty-seven years of protracted civil war has wreaked havoc in the country. The legacy of landmines throughout Angola, at least 70 different types from 22 separate countries, is testimony of one of the challenges facing the Angolan people. Over 86,000 citizens (2002 data) have been maimed or killed. Steve Priestley, director of operations of Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British nongovernmental organization with activities in 12 countries, has said, “No matter the total number, of all the countries in the world Angola is the most heavily impacted by landmines.”
Angola has a population of 11 million citizens and is the second largest oil producing nation in sub-Sahara–Africa. In addition, it is the seventh largest supplier of oil to the US.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe elections for the national parliamentary body, the House of Assembly, were scheduled for March 31, 2005. An invitation has been extended to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to monitor the elections. However, the 90 day advance notice for advance preparations by the SADC has been shortened to about 35 days. This will certainly be a key test of the criteria established in the SADC electoral guidelines. At least 32 countries have been requested to observe in a watchdog capacity.
The recent history of democratic processes in Zimbabwe has been problematic to say the least. The 2002 presidential elections between President Mugabe (ZANU-PF) and the main opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was relatively close. Mugabe received 54 percent versus 40 percent for Tsvangirai. Speculation was rampant that irregularities constituted election fraud. The international press was seriously hampered and discouraged from doing their job. The main opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) charged that the polls were “massively rigged.”
The above countries are contemporary examples of problems and successes in the arena of representative democracy and transparent democratic processes. Space limitations limit adequate elaboration of many details but the overview provides an enlightening picture. The trend of outside electoral observation groups represents hope for all-inclusive participation by citizens who have long been denied voting opportunities. The legacy of colonialism and the indifference of world imperialism must absorb most of the blame for political backwardness and economic underdevelopment. The people of Africa are realizing that it’s not about every person for themselves anymore. Africa must unite!
--Ron Bunyon is a contributing editor of Political Affairs.
