AFRICA 5 OVERVIEW Reassuring Omens, Bold Visions of parliament would have bordered on the On May 13, 2000, the Economist, the surreal. But that was precisely what hap- venerable and influential magazine of the pened. First, the Zimbabwean electorate global English-speaking political classes, voted down a government-sponsored consti- dubbed the continent “Hopeless Africa.” tution at a referendum in April, and two Yet beyond the ubiquitous images of may- months later the ruling party—that had been hem, positive, though less “newsworthy,” thought unassailable—came close to losing changes were evolving at the societal level. its parliamentary majority. The June elec- Thanks to discernible changes in public tions came in the wake of a period of unprec- attitudes and less willingness to accept the edented violence in which supporters of the inevitability of authoritarian rule, it was at ruling party reportedly killed nineteen people, the grassroots that the most promising battles including white farmers and opposition poli- were being waged for a more humane Af- ticians, beat up hundreds more, raped dozens rica. Human rights groups, churches, aca- of women, and occupied more than one thou- demics, and other civil society activists dem- sand commercial farms. At the vanguard of onstrated an uncommon resolve, courage pressure for change was a coalition of non- and willingness to put their lives on the line governmental forces that confronted the pow- to resist repression and lead the push among ers that be, questioning not only their effi- nongovernmental actors for transparency, cacy but also their legitimacy. This was an participation, and accountability. insurrection of courageous academics, high The indignant demand for more de- school teachers, priests, students, lawyers, mocracy came against a backdrop of dete- judges, citizens, all seeking to move their rioration and decay in the quality and per- country closer to the ideals of democracy and formance of public institutions, in their abil- respect for human rights and the rule of law. ity to produce the results that people de- They rose to that task very effectively and manded and would respect. Demands for pulled off a people-power revolution that change resonated with the public at large, achieved astonishing gains in a short span of including sectors of society that were only time. tenuously tied to the system, with little ac- The organizational effectiveness of the cess to employment, food, health care, edu- Zimbabwe groups was considerably helped cation, or other benefits that government by two factors: a popular backlash, especially was supposed to bring. But their aspirations among the urban electorate, against persis- bumped up against governments that had tently high levels of unemployment, poverty, been unable to provide political and social corruption; and an infusion of talent and progress. As the pressure built up during the organizing capabilities that rapidly year, governments in a number of countries professionalized the ranks of the civil society began to pay more attention as concepts of coalition and later the Movement for Demo- transparency and accountability took hold. cratic Change (MDC). Sophisticated and The phenomenal transition in Zimba- adroit, the opposition became highly effec- bwe was the most dramatic illustration of a tive media operators, ensuring a forceful yearning for democracy and human rights, projection of their message both at home and and of the dogged determination of civil abroad. It did not lead to a change in govern- society actors to engineer and orchestrate ment, but it marked a big step along the way. reform. Not so long ago the prospect of As developments in Zimbabwe heralded Zimbabwe’s ruling party losing a referen- bolder, increasingly courageous grassroots dum vote and coming close to losing control movements, the Ivory Coast too saw changes 6 AFRICA OVERVIEW towards greater empowerment of nongov- society activists was convened in Lusaka in ernmental forces, and renewed engagement July. Building upon the experience of a of the Ivorian people. In massive demonstra- previous CG meeting in Malawi when a tions sparked by a controversial presidential select number of NGOs were invited to a election, thousands of Ivorians spilled onto session on human rights and governance, the the streets of Abidjan to force the Ivorian Bank and a number of bilateral donors used president General Guei from power. More- it as a precedent to persuade the Zambian over, in the general uprising, voters in the authorities of the benefits of opening up the northern power base of opposition leader discussions. After strenuous objections to Alassane Ouattara largely boycotted the elec- the participation of human rights and civil tions. Despite harsh repression under Gen- society activists, Zambia’s Minister of Fi- eral Guei since his coup, and even in the face nance Katele Kalumba relented and agreed of intense gunfire, protesters demonstrated to have the entire meeting opened to civil across Abidjan, storming state radio and society groups, both local and international, television stations in what appeared to be a including traditionally tightly closed ses- spontaneous popular revolution. This “people sions. The human rights performance of the power revolution” was set off by mass dis- government was openly discussed during satisfaction with Guei’s attempts to rig and the meeting in the presence of NGOs. This steal the elections, and also with an earlier was a significant opening given the strategic court ruling that excluded two major politi- importance of a World Bank Consultative cal opposition figures from the presidential meeting to an aid-dependent government election. like Zambia. Seemingly, the success of the Equally undaunted were civil society Lusaka meeting was due to good teamwork and human rights groups in the rebel-held between Zambia’s bilateral donors, and a eastern provinces of North and South Kivu new, more open team at the World Bank— in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). reflecting a softening of the World Bank’s Although the Congolese Rally for Democ- compartmentalization of poverty reduction racy (RCD) authorities sought to limit the versus human rights, and some risk-taking many and vigorous actors, civil society by the Zambian government. groups struggled to maintain their rights to War-torn Angola also showed signs of free expression and association, serving as a pressure for change. With an eye to forth- channel for criticizing the RCD and its coming elections, seventeen minor opposi- Rwandan allies. In addition to dozens of tion parties met in May to fashion an alliance human rights associations, there were un- to foster opposition to the war, and advocate counted development and humanitarian non- free and fair elections. Concurrently, governmental groups, activist churches, and Angola’s churches—known to command the independent journalists. Although the rebel largest base of support in the country— authorities and their Rwandan allies resorted formed a joint body to champion peace and to such tactics as physical assault, arbitrary national reconciliation. In Sudan too, in the arrest, and detention, activists courageously face of overwhelming security obstacles, the persevered to maintain the only line of de- New Sudan Council of Churches’ “People- fense against glaring human rights abuses by to-People” reconciliation process held a self-styled liberators. meeting in May in conflict-ridden southern In DRC’s southern neighbor Zambia, a Sudan, of people on the east bank of the Nile, less dramatic but nonetheless crucial devel- despite overwhelming ethnic and military opment took place during the country’s impediments. The May meeting sought to World Bank Consultative Group (CG) meet- build upon the positive results of the west ing. For the first time in Africa, a transparent bank March 1999 meeting. CG meeting where all deliberations were There were other interesting trends in open to independent human rights and civil Senegal, Eritrea, and Somalia. In Senegal, AFRICA OVERVIEW 7 the electorate rejected President Abdou Diouf war. Probably in a concession to the mount- in his quest for a fourth consecutive term. ing tide for change, the Eritrean National Following a highly competitive March elec- Assembly concluded its thirteenth session tion, Diouf peacefully conceded defeat to on October 2 by announcing that multiparty veteran opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade elections would be held in December 2001. who took almost 60 percent of the votes cast. The assembly formed a committee to draft Diouf, head of the party that had governed regulations to govern political parties. Also Senegal since independence from France in in the aftermath of the war, about a dozen 1960, became only the third elected African private newspapers and magazines started head of government to leave office follow- publication. The Eritrean government also ing an election. Prior to the elections, Senegal softened the severe restrictions it had im- set another precedent in February 2000, when posed in 1998 on foreign NGOs that had a Senegalese court indicted Chad’s exiled denied them any operational role, and lim- former dictator, Hissein Habré, on torture ited their contribution to the health and edu- charges and placed him under house arrest. cation sectors, through government chan- It was the first time that an African had been nels and approved programs. Facing a com- charged with atrocities in his own country by plex disaster resulting from war and drought, the court of another African country and the government invited back several interna- represented a major step toward promoting tional NGOs that had left the country to the rule of law and breaking the cycle of protest the policy. The government even impunity in Africa. But Senegal somewhat ended its decade-long feud with the Interna- tarnished its reputation when its judiciary tional Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) dropped charges against Habré under what by inviting it to establish a delegation in seemed to be questionable circumstances. Asmara soon after the war broke out.