Author: Edson Charikinya
There is always
something to say when the UN General Assembly gets together. Global security is
always a huge topic, though not everyone agrees who is the threat and whose
responsibility it is to stamp it out. Edson Charikinya gives President Robert
Mugabe’s opinion on the matter.
President Robert Mugabe,
at the recent 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
delivered a scathing
address
accusing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) of straying from its
founding principles. Mugabe’s address was in sharp contrast to President
Barrack Obama’s earlier address
which sought to draw sympathy from world leaders on recent attacks against
American embassies in the Middles east. The leaders showed divergent views on
two important issues: the role of the UNSC in conflict resolution and the
identity of enemies to “world freedom.” Mugabe’s contrast to Obama was
examplified by his assertion that “the
death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was as tragic as that of U.S. Ambassador
to Libya Christopher Stevens.” Although one might be tempted to discredit
the value of Mugabe’s message, due to his perceived image as a “tyrant.”
 |
| President Obama delivers his address during the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York. |
Mugabe did a fine job
presenting arguments in support of the Council’s reform, which even his most
staunchest critics would find difficult to dismiss. Zimbabwe’s octogenarian
leader bemoaned the use – abuse – of the Council as a tool for regime change,
especially in settling disputes on the African continent. Using the way the Security Council handled
the Libyan crisis as an example, Mugabe exposed, as Professor Maximilian Forte
of Concordia University in Montreal Canada puts it: the hypocrisy underlying
UNSC assumed mandates of having the “responsibility
to protect,” as well as the short sightedness of those who advocate for
military intervention as a form of “humanitarian
intervention.” He bemoaned how provisions of the UN Charter
that deal with the peaceful settlement of disputes had “on
occasion, been ignored by the Security Council” in favour of “war,
embargos, sanctions and other punitive actions,” even on matters that could
have been resolved peacefully. Mugabe highlighted how the concept of “responsibility
to protect” was being abused by USA and NATO as a tool for furthering their
regime change agenda on the African continent and not to protect innocent
civilians from genocide.
Mugabe’s message is in
sharp contrast to that delivered by President Obama to the same assembly. Obama
contends that America’s and NATO’s use of the Council to intervene in Libya and
assisting in the overthrow of Gaddafi was completely justified despite the
action having some negative consequences. As far as Obama is concerned, African
leaders should be lining up to thank the West for bringing “a
season of progress” to Africa, where, “for the first time in decades,
Tunisians, Egyptians, and Libyans voted for new leaders in elections that were
credible, competitive, and fair.” If Mugabe’s message shows anything, it is
that African leaders do not agree with Obama’s views on how the continent is
progressing democratically, especially given high-handed Western
interventionist policies.
Slowly African leaders
are beginning to realise that the West sees little value in African
institutions’ capacity for conflict resolution on the continent. Some suspect
France would be in Mali right now, if not for its damaged public image in the
region. Nicolas Sarkosy, before he lost his re-election bid, combed the region
for a proxy to do the job.
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| President Robert Mugabe at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York City. World leaders and diplomats gather in New York City yearly for the United Nations General Assembly. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images). |
Mugabe is not alone in
criticising the abuse of the Council’s mandates by America and other NATO
members. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has on numerous occasions
castigated its use “as
a Trojan horse to side line African initiatives in brokering political dialogue
and resolving conflicts in preference for military intervention to foist puppet
regimes across the [African] continent.” African leaders have been accused
of inaction when it comes to resolving conflicts on the continent. Mr. Mbeki
thinks otherwise. He contends that the “AU
did what was correct when the Libyan problem arose. They [AU] moved quickly to
put together a task team of five Heads of State to ensure the implementation of
a peace programme.” NATO, showing clear disregard for Africa’s leaders’
conflict resolution initiatives, “prohibited
[the team] from flying into Libya.”
Having also mediated in Cote d’Ivoire during
its time of conflict from 2004 to 2006, Mr. Mbeki asserts that the AU was
well poised to peacefully resolve the conflict. A peace plan put together by
the AU was never considered in Libya. In that conflict the “UN
stopped the AU delegation from implementing the [peace] process in order to
create space for military action…” With these examples to show, it’s no
wonder most African leaders see the UNSC
as a willing tool for US interventionist policies and illegal regime change
in Africa.
The fact that Obama sees
no problem with the current UNSC and how it has sidelined African institutions
in resolving conflicts on the continent is quite disturbing. There was hardly
any mention in his address of reforming the Council to bring back credibility
to UN institutions. Both Obama and Mugabe acknowledge that the founding values
of the UN
are under attack. For Mugabe it is clear that the West and leaders like
Obama are to blame for the shift in current UN policies from its founding
values. As far as Obama is concerned, extremist religious fundamentalist and
corrupt dictators are the major antagonists in realizing the values of the UN. For
now reforms appear to be the only way to bring the UN back to its founding
values as expressed in the UN Charter.
Edson
Charikinya is a Zimbabwean born Chemical Engineer based in South Africa. He is
the founder and Operations Director of Innovartis Technology Systems, a
Pan-African technology group delivering technology solutions and services to
African communities and small-to-medium sized enterprises. He holds an MSc in
Chemical Engineering and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of
Stellenbosch.
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