Of political maturity and Africans

November 5, 2008 by Liberty Chirove ·
Filed under: Politics

Barak Obama- First US Black President

According to the news, Democratic Senator Barack Obama says “change has come to America”, after being elected the first black president of the United States.

“It’s been a long time coming, but tonight… change has come to America,” the president-elect told a jubilant crowd at a park in Chicago.

His rival John McCain accepted defeat, saying “I deeply admire and commend” Mr Obama. He called on his supporters to lend the next president their goodwill.

Can this example of peaceful, transparent elections, and ‘political maturity’ be emulated and followed by we- Africans?

Contrary to Africa, with the recent US election, I have never heard of hate speech, bloodshed, clashes and fighting in general. It was clean, smart debate.

I look back at our own elections here in Zim. People went through hell, until they wished there were no elections. Some even feared to go near the polling stations.

In Kenya, they buthered each other like chickens in broad daylight.

In, Africa, power does not come on a silver plater. One has to fight his way to the throne. When will we be ‘politically mature’?

I can go on and on, but to a larger extent, many African leaders are where they are today because they toppled someone, or they rigged their way there. Is it that we are so power hungry? Conflict is still present in DRC, Uganda and Sudan, among other nations.

Tell the world: