Elections in Ghana and South Africa, 2009
John Atta-Mills - Very Different from Jacob Zuma
Feb 18, 2009
Though the year 2009 is less than two months old, it has been a busy one for the African states of Ghana and South Africa. On January 4th, Ghana held a successful democratic election for a new president. This event was a milestone, not only for Ghana, which has now had a decade of peaceful transfers of political power, but also for Africa which is in need of examples of peaceful political process. It is important to note that the new president, John Atta-Mills, won only by a slim margin of 40,000 votes, in a run-off election in which approximately 9,000,000 votes were cast. Chris Fomunyoh, of the National Democratic Institute, based in Washington, stated optimistically that: “Hopefully, Ghana will continue to serve as a democratic role model for other African countries along with Benin, Botswana, Mali, Mauritius and South Africa.”
Mr. Fomunyoh’s optimism may be somewhat misplaced in the case of South Africa, however. Even though the country is rich and has the potential to be a leading influence on the continent, recent events have caused unrest. Thabo Mbeki, who took over the leadership of the African National Congress Party (ANC) after the retirement of Nelson Mandela, faced serious problems from the beginning of his presidency. The country was riddled with the largest HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world, as well as a 30-35 percent unemployment rate, with little hope of improvement for much of the population. In addition, violent crime was on the rise. Failure to solve these problems caused friction with in the ANC.
In December, 2007 internal strife within the party came to a head when ANC members voted in Jacob Zuma as the new party leader. This decision provoked a split within the ANC into a left faction, led by Zuma, and ensured that he would be the official party candidate for the 2009 elections. Mbeki supporters, who have accused the rump ANC of being “corrupt” and “authoritarian” formed the Congress of the People (COPE), further creating a division within the country.
On February 4, 2009 South African instability grew when the country’s high court set an August, 2009 trial date for Jacob Zuma on corruption charges. These charges stem from a multibillion arms deal negotiated in the 1990’s. Zuma maintains that the charges are part of a conspiracy brought by prosecutors and his political enemies and has been trying to avoid trial by a permanent stay of prosecution. The ANC is supporting its leader, while critics are questioning the party’s commitment to the rule of law.
Political analyst William Gumede fears that Zuma’s supporters, who have vowed to “kill for Zuma,” will never accept a conviction. “If Zuma as president is convicted, the battle to find a solution then is going to be more brutal and more bloody,” he states.
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