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Comores an example of African
cooperation at work
Last Sunday
we were in Moroni, the capital of the island state of the Union of Comores
located in the Indian Ocean not far from South Africa, to witness the
swearing in of President Azali Assoumani. The Union of Comores is made
up of the small islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, with Mayotte
still under the control of France.
President Azali's inauguration was a welcome and joyous
event because it marked the country's full return to democracy. This was
after four years of turmoil and instability occasioned by the secession
of the island of Anjouan in 1997 and the subsequent unconstitutional military
take over of Government.
After enduring years of uncertainty about the very future
of the country, President Azali Assoumani has emerged as the democratically
elected choice of the people of a united country.
In this Letter we speak of the evolution of the Comores
from colonial days to date to indicate its shared history with many other
African countries and to illustrate some of the challenges that face us.
The history of these islands is similar to the history
of our countries that were subjected to slavery and later to colonial
subjugation. The early inhabitants of the islands were Africans followed
by Arab merchants - hence the dominant religion of Islam.
Like Cape Town in our country that was turned into a
half way station between India and Europe by Europeans who were trading
in spices, the islands of the Comores were used as a centre for traffic
in slaves as well as the trade centre of spices from India.
The Arabs were the first to colonise the Comores followed
by the French. Like most of the African countries it opened its arms to
welcome the visitors. However those that it welcomed had other plans to
conquer and subjugate the indigenous people, turning their country into
a colony.
Following the 1885 Berlin Conference that agreed on
the division of Africa, it became a French protectorate in 1886. In 1912
it was officially declared a colony of France. In 1914 it was made part
of Madagascar by the French colonisers.
As the colonial struggle took firm root on the continent,
the island people began to agitate for their right to self-determination
and national independence. In the end, France relented and organised a
referendum in 1974 to enable the people to express their will. The people
voted overwhelmingly for independence.
Whereas the Comorians understood the referendum to be
national in character, the colonial power decided to determine the outcome
on the basis of the votes in each of the four islands. Because the majority
in Mayotte had voted against independence, France decided to separate
this island from the rest of the country and declare it part of France.
In 1975 President Ahmed Abdallah led the rest of the
Comores into the Organisation of African Unity as a Member of the organisation.
After achieving its independence, the islands of the
Comores never had peace and stability in their country. The mercenary
activities led by that notorious Bob Denard, a French citizen, constantly
destabilised the Comores, leading to a spate of military coups that resulted
in the death of President Abdallah.
In 1997 the islands of Anjouan and Moheli unilaterally
seceded from the federation on grounds of discrimination in socio-economic
development practiced by the central government. These islands sought
their integration back into France's domain.
For a long time fighting ensued among the warring factions
in Anjouan who only spoke to each other through the language of the gun.
Those who were not so long ago compatriots turned into deadly enemies
in the endless game of breaking up their country. The OAU sent a multinational
force led by South Africa to go help calm the situation but to no avail.
The Organisation of African Unity and all of us have
always maintained that it was only in the context of the unity and territorial
integrity of the Comores, in keeping with the long-standing OAU decision
on borders, that the country could return to normality.
Following an Inter-Island Conference in Madagascar,
which itself is now torn apart by conflict, significant progress was made
with all parties with the exception of Anjouan, resulting in the signing
of the Antananarivo Agreement.
The Anjouanese delegation promised to respond to the
decisions of the conference after consulting with their people. Instead
of doing this, it held a referendum that confirmed the decision to secede
from the federation of the Comores.
The death of President Taki of the central government
in the midst of all these events compounded the situation further and
was followed by a military coup led by Colonel Azali. This complicated
the situation for the OAU, as it had now to deal both with the re-unification
and the democratisation of the country. In the face of the defiant position
of the Anjouanese in favour of the dismemberment of the Union of the Comores,
the OAU had no alternative but to authorise a variety of measures that
would compel them back into the union. These measures included travel
and financial bans, as well as military intervention if necessary, under
the auspices of the OAU.
After much persuasion, Anjouan acceded to the proposal
to sign the Fomboni Agreement with the central government. The agreement
included the drafting of new constitutions for the central government
and for each island, confirming the federal nature of the state.
The new President sworn in last Sunday and the new Presidents
in each of the islands, were elected on the basis of the new constitutional
order. This outcome has also led to the lifting of the sanctions and begun
the long road towards stable peace in a united Comores.
A problem that arose as the country was progressing
towards the restoration of democracy, was that there was no money to implement
the Fomboni Agreement. The OAU then requested the countries of the region
to make contributions. South Africa contributed $1.1 million to help with
elections and other countries in our region gave an additional $110,000.
South Africa 's contribution also covered the humanitarian needs of the
islanders.
The collective constituted by the people of the Comores,
South Africa as Co-ordinator of OAU regional sub-committee on the Comores,
the OAU Secretary-General through his Special Representative, and other
international organisations played a cardinal and decisive role in bringing
this country back from the abyss of conflict and despair. Nevertheless,
the people of the Comores deserve our warmest congratulations for a job
well done.
It must be recalled that three days before the December
2001 referendum for the new constitution was held, putchists attempted
to stage a military coup but were resisted and defeated by the people
of the Comores. At the request of the OAU, a small unit of the South African
National Defence Force, joined by some soldiers from other countries of
the region went to the Comores in March and stayed until after the inauguration
of the new Government.
During the period of the attempted secession of Anjouan,
considerable numbers of weapons had ended up in the hands of many people
on the island. As part of the return to normality, it was necessary that
these weapons should be collected. The OAU again requested South Africa
to lead the multi-national force to carry out this task.
Thirty-five South Africans also went to the Comores
as observers of the elections. We have also made financial contributions
to the holding of the national and presidential election.
We did all these things in support of the Comorians
guided by our conviction that an unstable Comores is a challenge to all
of us as Africans. Our response was informed by the reality that we have
a responsibility to contribute to democracy, peace and stability on our
continent. We must all stand ready and actually work for peace, democracy,
and stability and economic prosperity in all our countries, big and small,
if we are to make this an African century.
Undeniably, the Union of Comores has a very weak economy.
The pervasive poverty and underdevelopment stare you in the face. The
country is dependent on the export of vanilla, cloves, and ylang-ylang,
which commodities are subject to consistently declining international
prices.
Now that the Comores has returned to democracy the NEPAD
programmes must be used to address the developmental challenges in the
Comores. With a population of around half-a-million, it will clearly be
unable to meet these challenges on its own, without the support of the
rest of Africa and the world.
The international community also has a responsibility
to help this country to build on the gains achieved thus far. Of importance
is the need to establish the institutions that will help sustain peace,
democracy, human rights, and good political and economic governance.
The launch of the African Union in coming months must
put our continent in a better position to deal with conflicts in our countries.
Thus, the Peace and Security Initiative as discussed by both the OAU Foreign
Ministers and Heads of State and Government of the NEPAD Implementation
Committee recently must be able to prevent, mediate and manage such conflicts
in future before they get out of hand.
For now, we can all be glad that the problem of the
Comores has been addressed. We will be glad to welcome the newly elected
President of the Comores in South Africa during the launch of the AU.
As we celebrate what is truly an African achievement
of which is spoken so little, while our failures as a continent are broadcast
gleefully, let us all work to resolve other areas of instability on our
continent. The positive development in the Comores must serve as an inspiration
for other countries such as the DRC, Madagascar and Liberia, which are
still grappling with conflict and instability.
As a country, we must continue to work together with
the rest of our continent to achieve other African victories such as the
one that Africa has scored in the Comores. If we all agree, as we surely
must, that this is an African century, we have to create the circumstances
in all our countries such that the children of Africa can talk proudly
of the joy of being an African, without fear of being looked down upon
and mocked by their peers.
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