It recently hit the news that Tsvangirai was pulling out of the run-offs, saying that he doesn’t want his supporters killed for participating in this “violent sham of an election”.

Then last night, 3’s Special Assignment did an article on Zimbabwe, and especially the violent acts perpetrated against MDC voters. While the images and stories were horrific, they reminded me of one simple truth: Africa is ruled by violence.

Whereas Western mindsets train their youth to govern over invisible infrastructures (like companies, corporations, governments), the African mindset places power in a different place - right back in the hands of the people. In Africa, it’s not about taking control of the system - it’s about taking control of the people.

People are power here. The more people you have on your side, the more powerful you are. Under natural circumstances, this leads to hundreds of seperate tribes, each under control of a single chief, as the people (and power) are spread over a vast geographic area.

Bring democratic government into the equation, and suddenly, power becomes imbalanced. One man and his party of fifteen suddently have power over millions of people that didn’t necessarily agree with having this man as their leader. What’s worse, they can’t up and overthrow the system of government - and every few years, the leaders wield their dominance to secure their seats in power for the next term.

Zimbabwe has highlighted a crucial factor that I think should be seriously considered - democracy doesn’t always work, and it’s failed us here in Africa. The people simply weren’t ready for it, and given the way things are going, they’ll never be ready for it, either.