Once again Africa has shown the world exactly what it thinks about democracy, the old African maxim of 'one man, one vote'.....once, appears to be as strong as ever on the continent. Is it little wonder that Africa remains but a minor backwater in world affairs, when it is so patently not ready for the 21st century and the civilized standards of behaviour expected of modern states?

The disgracefully corrupt Presidential elections in Zimbabwe last weekend, can leave nobody in any doubt that the spectre of the African despot is alive and well. Mugabe, the genocidal dictator of Zimbabwe, has once again shown his utter contempt for the people of that country by effectively disenfranchising them, and in doing so, receiving tacit support from his neighbours.

The Commonwealth appointed three nations, South Africa, Nigeria and Australia, to judge whether the Zimbabwean elections had been free and fair. As could be predicted, the African nations sided with Mugabe, and declared the elections to be valid. This was despite overwhelming evidence of electoral gerrymandering and outright fraud, not to mention the atmosphere of fear and intimidation in which the so-called election was held.

It is also to the shame of the Commonwealth of nations, that they are prepared to close their eyes to Mugabe's abuses, and pretend to see no evil. It is rank hyprocrisy of the worst sort, for an organization which in its founding charter lays out the conditions of membership for a nation, to see them blatently flouted and ignored, yet take no action to expell such a rogue state from the organization. The Commonwealth clearly now has no credibility whatsoever in the eyes of the free world, and should do the decent thing and disband. For far too long the Commonwealth has allowed the despots and dictators of Africa to control it, through the politically correct instrument of colonial guilt

It is to Africa's eternal shame, and to the detriment of the continent as a whole, that African nations will align themselves with a murderous dictator, simply on the grounds that he is a fellow black African. They seemingly have no problem in supporting a tyrant who has led his nation down the path of ruin and starvation, a tyrant who has killed countless numbers of his fellow countryman in the pursuit of personal wealth and power, and who is desperate to cling onto that power at the expense of not only his own nation, but of africa as a whole.

When will Africa stop hiding behind the veil of post colonial excuses for its constant failures, and realize that to be a part of the modern world, it must accept certain standards of civilized behaviour. At the very least this must include a transparent and fair electoral process and the rule of law.

In the instance of Zimbabwe, it is almost beyond belief that the racist government of such a shambolic nation, controlled by state terrorism and fear, is allowed to conduct itself on the world stage with seemingly no real repercussions. Where are the UN sanctions? The global isolation?

It is nothing short of a tragedy what has befallen the people of Zimbabwe. How very different it all was under a civilized Rhodesian government, which to many in Mugabe's Zimbabwe today must seem like a paradise lost. At this very sad time for all democratic Zimbabweans, we salute all those in Zimbabwe, both black and white, who were brave enough to take a stand against the evil of Mugabe and his oppressive ZANU PF government, and can only hope that rightiousness and truth will prevail in the end.