By Zweli Martin Dlamini

It is clear that the African continent is now a battlefield for imperialism,where was the African Union(AU) when the people of Gabon pleaded for help against the ousted dictator Ali Bongo?.

It seems the African Union(AU) is controlled somewhere, dictators are allowed to rig elections with impunity as long as those tyrants are linked or protecting the interests of world-superpowers.

In most instances, the AU would amplify or raise a voice once certain powerful countries outside the continent have declared their positions on that particular coup within the continent.

This,I would suggest, remains,a threat to the independence of the African continent where millions of citizens are languishing in poverty.

Now, the AU has the guts to suspend Gabon, but when human rights activists and organizations in that country demanded justice against the oppressor, practical action against dictators was never taken by the organization.

The context with regards to the establishment of the AU, was promote peace and stability within the continent and this, cannot be achieved by protecting dictators.

Peace must be a product of democracy, we cannot condone military coups but, we need democratic structures and institutions within the African continent that will ensure that, democracy is promoted, practiced and once achieved, it must be protected.

The African Union established democratic principles that must be followed by all member States but, we have dictators who are in power while violating these principles.

Worth-noting, the AU normally issues reports on human rights violations, without suspending the membership of the implicated country, a quick decision has been taken in the case of Gabon.

It should be noted that, such military coups are as a result of the ineffectiveness of organizations like the AU, the Southern African Development Community(SADC) is doing the same in the case of eSwatini, where a dictator is refusing to participate in a dialogue for almost three (3)years now since a political unrest erupted in June 2021.

It cannot be fair therefore, for organizations like the AU to raise a voice when a dictator is removed from power but, kept quiet when millions of innocent Gabonese citizens cried for help.

As the situation stands, the AU must allow the Gabonese to decide their future, in fact such organizations must help the people of Gabon to hold free and fair elections and further facilitate a peaceful transition from military to civilian rule.

Ali Bongo’s regime has been removed from power, this continent will expirience more coups considering what is happening in Zimbabwe and eSwatini, in the process, the African Union(AU) will be rendered irrelevant if the organization fails to facilitate peaceful democratic transition.

The African Union(AU) must stop protecting dictators who are killing and oppressing people, only to raise a voice once those tyrants are removed from power.