“Mad Bob” Mugabe bars Jimmy Carter: Treats “elders” with disrespect

Kansas residents are familiar with The Elders, and their “arse kickin’ music from the heartland.”

They’re a perennial favorite, not just in the USA, but abroad. And so when I read they were refused entry to Zimbabwe, I wondered why on earth the government would deny a visit to a harmless group of musicians adored for their Celtic sounds.

Not like Amy Winehouse or Snoop Dogg were coming.

Turns out there is another group of “Elders” and no, they’ve nothing to do with Celtic influences, music or have any competing rights over use of the same name.

In fact, and with respect to the Kansas City-based band, the group who were denied visas to the troubled country, are more eminent, heroes to millions of peace-loving people around the world, true statesmen and women. In short, just the kind of people any president would love to pose with in a photo op.

Meet the other Elders, a group of former heads of state, Nobel laureates, philanthropists and entrepreneurs who seek to “contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems”.

Started in 1999 by Peter Gabriel and British billionaire Richard Branson, the idea was based on the notion of traditional village elders resolving conflicts within their communities. They took the plan to former South African president Nelson Mandela and his wife Graça Machel and from there on, the group was expanded to include other  luminaries such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Aung San Suu Kyi.

As part of their mandate, three of the Elders, Graça Machel, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan decided to visit Zimbabwe on a humanitarian mission.

According to the World Food Programme, more than five million people, or 45 percent of the population are estimated to be facing severe food shortages. As aid agencies plea for $140 million for food rations, Zimbabwe’s troubles are compounded by an ineffective government. No, make that a government that isn’t even functioning following a breakdown of the power sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai. Hundreds of people dying of cholera, unemployment is rife and the economy is in tatters. Latest figures puts inflation at 231 million percent.

So when the delegation were denied entry into the country, it raised the question whether Mad Bob, as Mugabe is sometimes disparagingly referred to, has anything to hide.

What is it about some countries in turmoil refusing outside help?

Who could forget the cyclones in Myanmar, formerly Burma earlier this year. The military junta scoffed at the mention of any relief assistance even as U.S. helicopters and warships were bringing much-needed aid to hapless residents in the Irrawaddy delta. More than 100,000 people were feared dead and millions displaced and left destitute, yet the generals ruling the country remained steadfast in their opposition to outside help.

Politics was the case then – speculation was that the junta feared international aid posed a threat to their power. And so is it in the case of Zimbabwe. I don’t for one minute buy the contention by Harare that the visit of the Elders aimed to benefit Tsvangirai’s party in the power-sharing negotiations.

Mugabe won’t relinquish control and I believe doesn’t want to show the world the real extent to which the country has fallen into a deep abyss. For the many African leaders who have stood by him in the face of widespread international criticism of his (mis)rule, how will they now answer the millions of Zimbabweans barely surviving on one meal a day? Will they still give their unflinching support to an embattled leader who has been in power for 28 years since independence from white rule? Or will they do an about turn and admit they were wrong?

Not likely. But what we do know is how Mugabe’s legacy will be defined. His tenure has come to epitomize all the negative stereotypes that exist of Africa and its leaders – lifelong rulers, corrupt regimes, debt-ridden, coups and poverty.

Some concerns abounded about former U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s age, should he have won the race for the White House.

Mugabe is 13 years McCain’s senior, but unlike the latter, the African leader refuses to concede defeat.

At 84, Mugabe would be wise to treat the Elders with respect and heed their advice.