Dramatic-cum-nicely-choreographed fall from grace of former Egyptian strong man, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, was unprecedented though what happened in Tunisia tells it all.
Defiant and arrogant as the tyrant has always been, nobody thought he would easily be toppled. Day-dreaming as it was seen in 18 days, at last Mubarak succumbed to people’s power.
When the oppressor was booted out, my thought went ahead of this jovial moment. The first and crucial question was, if comparably affluent Egyptians can vent their pent-up anger by booting out the tyrant, what of the wretched of the earth in south of Egypt?
If you remind yourself of the pictures of Cairo, you’ll agree with me that Egyptians are relatively better compared to their cousins in south facing even grimmer situation. For example, currently, Tanzanians are facing acute shortage of power unnecessarily. Rationing is the norm next to reality. Corruption is an order of the day as accountability faces detumescence.
So too, Ugandans have known but just a one man show for over two decades. What is their take of what happened in Egypt and Tunisia?
Generally speaking, life is harsher in SSA than it is in Egypt, even the Maghreb in general. It is even more meaningless comparably. You, who are reading this, try to compare your life with those of Egyptian you will know what I mean. Go ahead. Compare your per capital with that of Egyptians. Furthermore, compare your infrastructures to that you saw in Egypt.
Another thing that busied my mind is geopolitics of the region. Ethiopia as well as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are suffering from chronic mega corruption. Arab countries are suffering from dictatorship and monarchism.
Thanks to globalization whatever happens in any country of the world is echoed and aped all over the world. That’s why what transpired in Tunisia, gave birth to revolution in Egypt which soon will escalate to Algeria, Yemen and elsewhere. We’re waiting to see the end of what is going on in Yemen. This dyadic revolution is a new beacon everyone is looking at. Will this domino effect go on or dwindle? Egyptian revolution has rekindled it surely.
Many careless and myopic rulers would sooth their hearts thinking that Tunisia-cum-Egypt Jasmine Revolution has nothing to do with them. But again, this time, as US president indicated, is time for eradicating dictators and crooks. The timing of this new world order is accurate and people’s power is unstoppable.
I am asking myself. If the guys that were smart enough to hijack their population for three decades are shown the road, what of the rookies? Another killer fact, Egyptians, for thirty years, were regarded as the most docile people on earth thank to not taking on their tyrant. When Sudanese started demonstrations in the heart of Cairo, Egyptians were left baffled. They wondered how could one get the guts of agitating against the government and fall short of being totally insane?
But when hunger and miseries are at work, anything can unpredictably happen. Hungry person has no taboos Swahili sage has it. Who would put his or her name on shame, risking thinking that Mohammed Bouazizi would be the power behind toppling tyrants?
My shew stone tells me that a hungry man or woman in Cairo has no border with the same in Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam or Kigali. This means, what happened in Egypt and Tunisia is but the beginning-cum-replica of what is to happen.
Another crucial aspect of the whole history making is the fact that military is coming out of age. The decent and reasonable way that the Egyptian military acted in this process must be emulated by other napkin-like armies in the continent. Bombs, tanks and military muscles will nary defeat people’s power. This is a nugget of knowledge to those that are still day dreaming thinking that they can use the army to intimidate and rob the hoi polloi.
Mubarak had the mightiest army under his disposal compared to SSA. But by not sitting on their brain, they deserted him at the very time he needed them most. They understood the mighty of people’s power. They accepted the reality that president can come and go, but not the citizenry.
Now that Mubarak and his gang are out of the big picture, what should we expect? Will the military live up to their promises? Is it the beginning of the end of dictators or the end of the beginning of fear and day-dreaming?
Though Egyptian uprisings are regarded as well-coordinated and civilized ones, the credit goes to the military that chose to use brains in lieu of allegiance and loyalty. This is a good lesson for stupidly used armies.
Another important aspect is the police in Egypt betrayed the people so as to end in a shameful and awkward situation. Those that are in waiting, will this be repeated?
Having witnessed what happened in Egypt and Tunisia, let’s think deeply. Who is next? This is the question I asked two weeks ago.
“Salma/Salmah” means peace as the Egyptians put it. This was the take of the army and the people. Is SSA ready for peaceful transition or revolution? Those who for long have pinned their hope on army should forget. This question makes more sense for the police force than anybody else thanks to what happened in Egypt, before the army put sense in the big picture.
This epistle won’t make sense if it lapses without commending US’s stance to echo and support the voices of the mass. US president Barack Obama was jeered at for supporting the voices of the people before Mubarak hit the road. But the climax of this impasse has vindicated him as a visionary and trustworthy leader.
The upshot is the coming of Democratic Party under Obama has completely changed that ugly image of supporting tyrants. If Obama wanted, Mubarak would have still been in power. But again, time time before time times you. This is what Obama and his administration listened to.
Mubarak is history. What of other tyrants and thieves in SSA?
Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He writes regularly for “The African Executive” and also has a blog entitled “Free Thinking Unabii”. He is a regular contributor to AfroSpear.
Ana said:
President Obama is beginning to look like a statesman.His speech in Cairo is one for the history books.
One thing,it appears that the Egyptian military is an independent machine unto itself with its own interest and maybe agenda.
I hate to say this but I found it a bit strange that the Egyptian people trusted their military officials.We still have to wait and see because this is the same military which supported Mubarak for 30 years. Most of the high rank officials were appointed by Mubarak.And Mubarak is a former military officer.
I was brought up in a country that was ruled by the military for many years.I have seen the good and bad from them. Military officials in the developing world are prone to protect their own interests.I tend not to trust them.
They have no problem joining the people but would drop you as fast as boo, and can be very ruthless if they deem you an enemy of their interests.Military officials are not supposed to be in power for too long.
This one is a first in History, watching the army patiently keeping the peace , policing the streets and not taking power into their own hands. I have to give credit to the Egyptian people and the military.
The Muslim Brotherhood say they are not running for political office, after being banned for so many years. They claim they want to see a secular Egypt. I do not believe one word of that.
Nowadays people are just tired, fed up of being pushed around, lied to, and taking arvantage of.This is the fuel that drives revolutions.
What I like is that many of the young Egyptians are forming their own political parties.
Young Egyptians will have a say in the power sharing and decision making of their country. They deserve it.
I really hope to see a political transformation of the entire African continent.
Saludos.
N3 said:
Let us hope that the europeans do not try and take advantage of egypt while it is in disarray.
J.S. Buford said:
I wish I could be optimistic or entertain romantic thoughts of the revolutionary fervor exhibited in Egypt spreading throughout southern Africa as well.
We all can be hopeful though.
My primary hesitation… the influence of the press. In is in part (a very large part) why the revolution in Egypt was able to gain traction. I cannot help but to recall how the Sudanese government was able to crush similar efforts….and were able to do so because of the short attention span of the press.
Nevertheless, we can be hopeful. Maybe, people of African descent here in the U.S. may adopt the posture proliferated by organizations like TransAfrica (just one example), and strike the match.
Sayeed said:
America has provided more aid to Egypt than any other nation except Israel. In fact the only reason for Egypt getting aid is to keep Egypt from becoming a threat to Israel. 80 percent of the aid goes to the military for exactly that reason. The military is paid to keep Israel’s interest paramount. The head of state is irrelevant as long as Israel’s interest are served.
Ana said:
From the very beginning, Palestinians were promised a state along with Israel but the very Arab world rejected it and did not recognize Israel. I laughed at all those who look at Israel as the reason for the turmoil in the Arab world and the Arabs as(mansa palomas) peaceful doves.
We all know whenever a new nation takes its place in history, its neighbors are supposed to recognize it and if they do not, this could be a problem for this new nation.
This is one of the very reasons why Haiti is in the mess that it is in. Not one nation recognized the Republic of Haiti in 1804.
Israel was not regcognized by its Arab neighbors in 1948 days after it became a sovereign nation-state.And Israel had to fight tooth and nail for its existence because all of them decared war against Israel. They started the war . Egyptians and Arabs are obviously no threat to anyone because when they all warred against Israel, they all lost.
I used to work for an engineering society *(I will not name it), where engineers from all over the world are members. They send in ther monthly dues and receive magazines, publications, etc. We would receive payments(money orders and checks) from Arab nations and their currency would say:” This note is valid all over the world except in Israel”.
Blaming Israel for defending itself against neighbors whose agenda were to destroy it, is to be ill informed about early events that took place. Palestinians and Arabs have bongled things many times.
When Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Peace Accords with Israeli leader Menachem Begin, both Israel and Egypt were making peace. Sadat was gunned down for that by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,and we know the rest ,it is history:
The US taking side with Israel and supporting tyrants in the Muslim region. Arabs and Muslims believing that there is power in violence,harrassing the world with terrorism and believing that their problem is the only blasted one on this planet and not fighting to end their problems: injustices,monarchy,backwardness, theocracy(Who says God wants us to create a government for him on earth?) and tyranny at home…
We have problems all over this world.There is a war right now in Colombia. Colombians have not involved the world in their mess. There are wars all over, but the world has been overdosed with the Arab/Israeli conflict and problems of the Muslims.
Africa and Latin America have been giving a back seat to the problems of Muslims.
I am glad the Arabs are standing up, this has shown that terrorism is futile and that the suicide bomber is the biggest coward in History.
A few days of protest have shown and reminded us what coming together peacefully can do. There is power in peaceful protest. Let us see now, what will be the future of the Middle East.
Given the opportunity to elect leaders consecutively, let us see the future of the Arab world, if it involves peace, war, or a lofty world agenda(spreading Islam).
The US is not as powerful as many of you think.
Right now in Latin America, few nations listen to the United States. Latin leaders atttend meetings with US leaders, nod their heads in agreement, then go home and work in their own countries’ interests. Few of them are the puppets of yesterday.Latin leaders have to contend with a population that is quick to protest, blocking off major streets and creating unrest.
The powerful military that was once financed by the US is no longer there to terrorize the citizens.
The days of Militarism are dead and gone in Latin America ; let us pray and hope that this will be the same for Egypt and the Muslim/ Arab world .
This is the time for nation building. The citizens of this world deserve better.
Saludos a todos.
Ana said:
Correction:
The days of Militarism and authocratic leaders are dead and gone…