African press review 21 May 2012

Rumours that Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe may be about to retire, the possibility of a political comeback for South Africa's Julius Malema and who are Africa's most unpopular leaders are the stories grabbing the headlines in Africa's newspapers

How tired is Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe? Enos Nkala, one of the founding fathers of the ruling Zanu-PF’s, has distanced himself from weekend media reports that Mugabe told him he was worn out and wanted to retire.

Nkala held a 45-minute private talk with 88-year-old Mugabe at the Joshua Mqabuko International Airport in Bulawayo on Friday.

Quoted in the weekly Standard newspaper yesterday, Nkala said that Mugabe told him he wanted to retire, but he cannot do so now because Zanu-PF would disintegrate.

Nkala told Business Day yesterday that his comments had been taken out of context by journalists itching to get a scoop.

Asked to comment on Nkala’s statement, which political observers say highlights the complexity of Zanu-PF’s succession dynamics, Simon Khaya Moyo, the party’s chairman, brushed aside the reports. "It’s not true," says Moyo. "The president is as fit as a fiddle, he is Zanu PF’s candidate and is raring to go in the elections this year."

South African financial daily BusinessDay also reports that graft allegations against Julius Malema, who was expelled from the African National Congress just last month, are expected to make his political comeback bid even more difficult.

An audit of Malema's companies and the affairs of his family trust have exposed a net of alleged kickbacks and tender irregularities.

Malema is also under investigation by the Hawks division of the police, the public protector and the taxman.

Political analyst Steven Friedman says the crucial question now is whether Malema will be prosecuted. A court case could have serious political implications for the ANC as more names of Malema associates are likely to be revealed.

The papers in Kenya are dominated by the weekend launch by Uhuru Kenyata of his new political party, The National Alliance.

The Standard reports that Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North MP William Ruto were among more than 70 MPs who attended the function.

The Standard also has a story claiming that Prime Minister Raila Odinga is now in favour of talks with the separatist Mombasa Republican Council.

Last month, the PM said the government would not talk to MRC until the group renounces violence and its separatist slogans.

Odinga has opposed the MRC’s call for an election boycott in Coast Province saying staying away from the polls would be counterproductive because it would leave power in the hands of traitors.

Raila told cheering supporters at a weekend rally in Likoni in Mombasa that Kenya’s political, economic and social problems can be traced to “the conspiracies of the Kenyatta regime”, which the Prime Minister accused of creating land problems at the Coast and refusing to reconstruct the country due to personal and group greed.

The Daily Nation reports from the same rally. Raila Odinga on Sunday reached out to Coast people pledging to tackle numerous problems plaguing their region, which have not been addressed by successive governments since independence.

Issues pertaining to landlessness, unemployment, exploiting resources, poor infrastructure and the nagging matter of the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council are the most pressing concerns for Coast residents, according to Odinga.

The prime minister said the history of independent Kenya has been characterised by a struggle between liberators and traitors and urged Coast people and Kenyans to support the Orange Democratic Movement and move the country forward.

The Lesotho Times reports that a recent survey has revealed that 61 per cent of the people of Lesotho disapprove of the way Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili is running the country.

In other words, only 39 per cent think the prime minister is doing a good job. The results are likely to cause consternation in the ranks of Mosisili's Democratic Congress just one week before next Saturday's general election.

According to the Lesotho Times, Mosisili’s approval rating is worse even than that of Swaziland’s King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, who got the thumbs up from 56 per cent of his people.

Africa's four least popular leaders in the 34-nation survey organised by the Gallup polling group were, with a 64 per cent disapproval rating, Malawi’s Bingu wa Muthrika, who won't be disappointed by the news, since he died last April.

In Senegal, 70 per cent disapproved of the way Abdoulaye Wade, who has since been run out of town, was doing the job. In Zimbabwe, 62 per cent think Robert Mugabe who has ruled the country for 32 years is doing badly as a leader. Almost eight in every 10 Angolans disapprove of Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, their leader of 32 years.

Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza had the highest approval rating at 89 pe rcent. He is followed by Benin’s Yayi Boni who is approved by 87 per cent of his people.