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Capture of Gbagbo - Lesson for Africa's last dictators
Youth Forum
April 12, 2011

The capture and demise of Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian despot who refused to cede power after losing an election in November 2010 is testimony to the fact that dictators will not always have their way especially when the people have had their say as the people of Ivory Coast did in November 2010. While such news will obviously attract scorn and spite from like-minded dictators and sympathizers of despotic regimes, it is indeed sweet news for the people of Ivory Coast and other pro-democracy voices across the continent and the world.

As young people in Zimbabwe, we feel very inspired by the struggle of the people of Ivory Coast and take heart to the fact that even in the face of repression of the highest order, the forces of good always triumph against evil. We also feel encouraged that Gbagbo even after having sent his envoy to Harare to get a few notes on how to stay in power after losing an election, eventually could not have it his way. His capture while holed up in his fortified bunker reminds us of the same demise of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraq strongman.

As the Youth Forum, we take this opportunity to urge our politicians in Zimbabwe to be always mindful of the fact that real power lies with the people and it is the people who always have the final say. As the country gears for elections which shall signal the end of the current inclusive government, we urge all the political players in the country to genuinely work towards ensuring that the next elections are convened in an environment that allows the people to have the final say. We also urge SADC as the guarantors of the GPA to continue tightening the screws on our political players to ensure that the next election will not be fraudulent or is not again stolen by the loser. We again urge SADC to heed the winds of change that are sweeping across the African continent, long considered as the last den of dictators. The days of African 'dictatorship' disguised as African 'brotherhood' are long gone and the world as we know it has become less tolerant of dictators.

Meanwhile . . .

The Youth Forum condemns in the strongest sense the violence that characterized the recently held provincial congress elections of the MDC-T notably in Bulawayo and Manicaland provinces. It is saddening that while the MDC-T is busy telling the world that they are victims of Zanu PF's orgy of violent repression, they too continue to suppress divergent views in the same manner as Zanu PF. It is also disheartening that the party itself has not condemned the violence which seems to be now a cancer in the once vibrant opposition party and beacon of democracy

The Youth Forum views the conduct of elections as an inherent feature of the democratic process of choosing our leadership and as such we do not expect the electoral process to have the slightest taint of violence otherwise the whole process becomes self-defeating. we urge the MDC-T president to denounce and stem this endemic violence that is clearly discrediting the party and what it stands for.

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