African resolve solves Togo coup

By Alex Singleton | 26 February 2005

The Economic Community of West African States and the African Union should be commended on putting pressure on Togo's coup-installed Faure Gnassingbe to resign. A spokesman for Olusegun Obasanjo, chairman of the Africa Union and Nigeria's president, said:

What happened in Togo was a coup d'etat dressed in the borrowed robes of democracy and we are glad that Faure Gnassingbe has finally realised the folly of what happened.

The success of pressure on Togo might suggest a useful course of action for dealing with Zimbabwe. That country rigged parliamentary elections in 2000 and the presidential election in 2002. Yet, as the Economist points out in this week's issue, Zimbabwe's neighbouring states seem to see little evil:

South Africa's Mr Mbeki... admitted that some of Mr Mugabe's policies were "incorrect". But he repeated the ludicrous canard that Zimbabwe's present conflict is between blacks and whites. In fact, it is between a large black majority who want a fair election, and a small, predatory minority who wish to deny them one.

Togo has shown that the Africa can put its own house in order. Now it needs to do it more consistently.