It is true that sorting out the mess in Zimbabwe will require a made-in-Africa solution, in the final reading one fashioned by Zimbabweans themselves.
But what does the rest of world do when African leaders willfully ignore the latest outrages? That is precisely what has happened in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik at the annual meeting of the African Union.
Heads of state in the 53-nation organization didn't even have the gumption to publicly slap the hand of Robert Mugabe for his latest crime, namely stealing the recent presidential election by thuggery, intimidation and outright murder. Three separate African monitoring groups labelled last Friday's vote a sham. Previously, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, having had to seek refuge in Harare's Dutch embassy, had dropped out of the race and urged fearful supporters to vote for Mugabe if pressed, since the election was patently fraudulent.
His hopes that the AU would take a strong and principled stand against Mugabe's bogus self-inauguration have been cruelly dashed.
It was instead President Omar Bongo of Gabon who set the public tone of the AU summit when he deadpanned: Mugabe "was elected, he took an oath, and he is here with us, so he is president and we cannot ask more from him."
But then this is just the most recent shameful display by Zimbabawe's ruling elite. Over the 84-year-old tyrant's long tenure since independence, a naturally blessed country has become a poster child for failed states. Refugees flood into neighbouring countries daily, bereft of hope.
Reports have described Mugabe as calm, even relaxed during the just-ended AU meetings -- and why not? The only body that might have given him pause had essentially validated his preposterous election.
This wasn't universal. After years of silence, old South African comrades Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu have lately chastised him, the latter describing Mugabe as having morphed into "a Frankenstein." Alas, current South African President Thabo Mbecki chose to remain mute at the AU proceedings.
In laudable contrast, the presidents of neighbouring Botswana and Zambia instead roundly condemned the Mugabe regime and demanded Zimbabwe be barred from both the AU and Southern African Development Community.
It is, of course, hard to know what the old despot was told behind closed doors. But because the AU took a spineless approach in public, Mugabe spokesman George Chambers felt empowered to tell the outside world "we have our own history of evolving dialogue and resolving political impasses the Zimbabwean way."
Under Mugabe, Zimbabweans know all too well what those methods are. How long will they have wait until justice prevails?
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