THE usual band of white leaders in the West have tried megaphone diplomacy to halt Robert Mugabe's tyrannical regime in Zimbabwe. And failed. Black leaders in Africa opted for quiet diplomacy, believing that Africans must become masters of their own destiny, left to solve their own problems. That failed. Now, nothing short of dramatic action from black African leaders can end the ravaging of Zimbabwe by a black despot.But don't count on that. Last week in Tanzania, a meeting of African leaders demanded an end to Western sanctions against Zimbabwe. The next day, Mugabe was duly re-endorsed as presidential candidate for the 2008 election. Doffing their race-laced caps to an old revolutionary, African nations have become complicit in the killing of a neighbouring people. Taking action against Mugabe would essentially mean siding with white Western leaders, apparently a sin worse than genocide. This African-style neo-racism means that a black despot goes on killing black people.
In 1980 Mugabe became a revolutionary symbol. His leadership was supposed to signal an end to white racist oppression of blacks. In fact, it seems to have inspired a unique African racism, blacks killing blacks. Within a few years, ethnic cleansing was part of Mugabe's political repertoire. Trained by the North Koreans, his crack squad, the 5th Brigade, wiped out 20,000 civilians in Matabeleland.