Thugtatorship: The Highest Stage of African Dictatorship

Thugtatorship: The Highest Stage of African Dictatorship

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

Thugogracy in Africa

If democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, a thugogracy is a
government of thieves, for thieves, by thieves. Simply stated, a thugtatorship is rule by a gang of
thieves and robbers (thugs) in designer suits. It is becoming crystal clear that much of Africa
today is a thugogracy privately managed and operated for the exclusive benefit of bloodthirsty
thugtators.

In a thugtatorship, the purpose of seizing and clinging to political power is solely to accumulate
personal wealth for the ruling class by stealing public funds and depriving the broader population
scarce resources necessary for basic survival. The English word "thug" comes from the Hindi
word "thag" which means "con man". In India "Thugees", well-organized criminal gangs, robbed
and murdered unsuspecting travelers over a century ago. Africa's "thugees" today mug, rob,
pillage, plunder and rape unsuspecting whole nations and peoples and secrete away their billions
in stolen loot in European and American banks.

Today, we see the incredibly extreme lengths Libyan thugtator Muammar Gaddafi is willing to
go to preserve his thugocratic empire floating on billions of stolen oil dollars hidden in foreign
bank accounts and corporate property holdings. The British Government recently announced that
it expects to seize "around £20 billion in liquid assets of the Libyan regime, mostly in London."
The Swiss Government has similarly issued an order for the immediate freeze of assets
belonging to Gadhafi and his entourage. The Swiss central bank announced that it will freeze
Gaddafi's 613 million Swiss francs (USD$658 million), with an additional 205 million francs
(USD$220 million) in paper or fiduciary operations. In 2008, before a diplomatic incident
involving the arrest of one of Gaddafi's sons for assault in Switzerland, Gadhafi's Swiss holdings
amounted to 5.7 billion in cash and 812 million francs in paper and fiduciary operations. In 2006,
the Libyan Sovereign WealthFund had investments of $70 billion. The U.S. closed its Embassy
in Triopli and slapped a freeze on all Libyan assets described as "substantial."

To protect his empire of corruption, Gadhafi has ordered his air force to bomb and strafe
unarmed civilian demonstrators demanding an end to his 42-year rule. His son Saif al-Islam
threatened to dismember the country and plunge it into a civil war that will last for 30 or 40
years. In a televised speech, the young thug promised a bloodbath: "We will fight to the last
minute, until the last bullet. I will fight until the last drop of my blood." The buffoonish al-Islam
contemptuously reassured the world: "Plan A is to live and die in Libya. Plan B is to live and die
in Libya. Plan C is to live and die in Libya." For someone who has no official role in
government, it was an astonishing statement to make.
Gadhafi himself has vowed to fight on and die "like a martyr" in the service of his thugogracy.
He urged his supporters in Green Square to fight back and "defend the nation." He exhorted,
"Retaliate against them, retaliate against them... Dance, sing and prepare. Prepare to defend
Libya, to defend the oil, dignity and independence." Gadhafi promised: "At the suitable time, we
will open the arms depot so all Libyans and tribes become armed, so that Libya becomes red
with fire." It is not enough for Gadhafi and his thugs to have bled the Libyan people dry for 42
years, they now want to burn down the whole country to ashes. Apres moi, le deluge! (After me,
the flood!)

The Ivory Coast is on the verge of civil war, according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
In December 2010, Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after he was decisively defeated in the
presidential election. His own Election Commission said his opponent Alassane Ouattara won
the election by a nine-point margin. The African Union, the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations, the United States, the European Union all said
Ouattara is the winner. Gbagbo has turned a deaf ear and is preparing to plunge the Ivory Coast
into civil war to protect his empire of corruption. In 2000, Gbagbo imposed a curfew and a state
of emergency andordered security forces to shoot and kill any demonstrators in the streets:
"Police, gendarmes and soldiers from all branches of the armed forces are ordered to use all
means throughout the country to oppose troublemakers." Like Gaddafi's mercenaries today,
Gbagbo's troops back then went on a killing and beating rampage. The European Union, the
Swiss and United States Governments have frozen Gbagbo's assets in their countries.

In May 2010, Meles Zenawi said he won the parliamentary election by 99.6 percent. The
European Union Election Observer Team said the election "lacked a level playing field" and
"failed to meet international standards", a well-known code phrase for a "stolen election". In its
2005 report, the Observer Team said exactly the same thing. Zenawi's EPDRF party pretty much
owns the Ethiopian economy. "According to the World Bank, roughly half of the rest of the
national economy is accounted for by companies held by an EPRDF-affiliated business group
called the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT). EFFORT's freight
transport, construction, pharmaceutical, and cement firms receive lucrative foreign aid contracts
and highly favorable terms on loans from government banks." The regime's own anti-corruption
agency reported in 2008 that "USD$16 million dollars" worth of gold bars simply walked out of
the bank in broad daylight. A couple of weeks ago, in an incredible display of arrogance and
total lack of accountability, Zenawi publicly stated that 10,000 tons of coffee earmarked for
exports had simply vanished from the warehouses. He called a meeting of commodities traders
and in avideotaped statement told them he will forgive them because "we all have our hands in
the disappearance of the coffee". He warned them that if anyone should steal coffee in the future,
he will "cut off their hands".

In 2005, Zenawi demonstrated the extremes he will go to protect his empire of corruption.
Zenawi's own Inquiry Commission documented that troops under Zenawi's direct command and
control mowed down 193 documented unarmed protesters in the streets and severely wounded
nearly 800. Another 30,000 suspected opponents were jailed. In a meeting with high level U.S.
officials in advance of the May 2010 election, Zenawi told them in plain words what he will do
to his opposition if they try to "discredit the election": "If opposition groups resort to violence in
an attempt to discredit the election, we will crush them with our full force; they will all vegetate
like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever." If Zenawi will "crush" those who "attempt to discredit
an election", it does not leave much to the imagination to figure out what he will do when the
people ask him peacefully to leave power.
In April 2010, Omar al-Bashir of the Sudan claimed victory by winning nearly 70 percent of the
vote. The EU EOM declared the "deficiencies in the legal and electoral framework in the
campaign environment led the overall process to fall short of a number of international standards
for genuine democratic elections." Another election stolen in broad daylight; but that is not all
Bashir has stolen. According to a Wikileaks cablegram, "International Criminal Court [ICC]
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told [U.S.] Ambassadors Rice and Wolff on March 20 [2009]
that [Ocampo] would put the figure of Sudanese President Bashir's stash of money at possibly $9
billion." After the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes
against humanity in Darfur, the first warrant of its kind for a sitting head of state, a sneering
Bashir flipped his middle finger at the ICC: "They will issue their decision tomorrow, and we are
telling them to immerse it in water and drink it", a common Arabic insult which is the equivalent
of "they can shove it up their _ _ _." Bashir recently he said he will not run for the presidency
again. (It is not clear if had decided not to run because he wants to enjoy his stolen billions or
because he expects to put on the jail jumpsuit of the ICC.)

In February 2010, a group of soldiers in Niger calling itself the "Supreme Council for the
Restoration of Democracy" stormed Niger's presidential palace and snatched president Mamadou
Tandja and his ministers. In 2009, Tandja had dissolved the National Assembly and set up a
"Constitutional Court" to pave the way for him to become president-for-life. Niger's state
auditorreported that "at least 64 billion CFA francs [USD$128-million] were stolen from Niger's
state coffers under the government of former president Mamadou Tandja." Tandja is sitting in
jail in southwestern Niger.
In March 2008, Robert Mugabe declared victory in the presidential election after waging a
campaign of violence and intimidation on his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters. In
2003, Mugabe boasted, "I am still the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective:
justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people
and their rights over their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that
is what we stand for." No one would disagree with Mugabe's self-description. In 2010, Mugabe
announced his plan to sell "about $1.7 billion of diamonds in storage" (probably rejects of his
diamond-crazed wife Grace). According to a Wikileaks cablegram, "a small group of high-
ranking Zimbabwean officials (including Grace Mugabe) have been extracting tremendous
diamond profits." Mugabe is so greedy that he stole outright "£4.5 million from [aid] funds
meant to help millions of seriously ill people."

In December 2007, Mwai Kibaki declared himself winner of the presidential election. In 2002,
Kibaki, criticizing his predecessor Daniel Arap Moi regime, urged the people to "Remain calm,
even when intimidated or provoked by those who are desperately determined to rig the elections
and plunge the country into civil war." In 2007, Kibaki and his thugees unleashed such violence
against the civilian population that 1500 Kenyans were killed and some 600 hundred thousand
displaced, almost plunging Kenya into civil war. The Kroll Report revealed that Moi stole
billions of dollars using a "web of shell companies, secret trusts and frontmen" and secreted the
loot in 30 countries. Kibaki stonewalled further action on the report, including prosecution of
Moi.
The story of corruption, theft, embezzlement and brazen transfer of the national wealth of
African peoples to European and African banks and corporate institutions is repeated elsewhere
in the continent. Ex-Nigerian President Sani Abacha, who was judicially determined to be a
member of acriminal organization by a Swiss court, stole $500 million. Ben Ali of Tunisia and
Hosni Mubarak of Egypt also have their stolen assets in the hundreds of millions of dollars
frozen in Switzerland and elsewhere. Other African thugtators who have robbed their people
blind (and pretty much have gotten away with it) include Nigeria's Ibrahim Babangida, Guniea's
Lansana Conte, Togo's Gnassingbe Eyadema, Gabon's Omar Bongo, Equatorial Guniea's Obiang
Nguema, Burkina Faso's Blaise Campore and Congo's (Brazaville) Denis Sassou Nguesso,
among others.

Godfathers and African Thugogracies

In previous commentaries, I have argued that the business of African governments is corruption.
African thugtators cling to power to operate sophisticated criminal business enterprises to loot
their national treasuries and resources. These African "leaders" are actually "godfathers" or heads
of criminal families. Just like any organized criminal enterprise, African thugtators use their
party apparatuses, bureaucracies, military and police forces to maintain and perpetuate their
corrupt financial empires.
When the U.S. first announced its "kleptocracy asset recovery program" to the world in July
2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder delivered the message, not at some international anti-
corruption forum, but at the African Union Summit in Kampala, Uganda. Holder told the
gathered African thugtators:
Today, I'm pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Justice is launching a new
Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative aimed at combating large-scale foreign official corruption
and recovering public funds for their intended - and proper - use: for the people of our nations.
We're assembling a team of prosecutors who will focus exclusively on this work and build upon
efforts already underway to deter corruption, hold offenders accountable, and protect public
resources.
Holder's announcement was nothing short of breathtaking. It was as though he was addressing
the national convention of the "Commissione" of all the Mafia families from New York City,
Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Atlantic City, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. In
Kampala, Holder was talking directly to the African equivalents of the Godfathers of the
Bonnano, Columbo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime families in one place. Absolutely
surreal!

The Political Economy of Thugtatorships

Thugtatorships in Africa thrive in the political economy of kleptocracy. Widespread corruption
permeates every corner of society. Oil revenues, diamonds, gold bars, coffee and other
commodities and foreign aid are stolen outright and pocketed by the thugtators and their army of
thugocrats. Public funds are embezzled and misused and state property misappropriated and
converted to private use. Publicly-owned assets are virtually given away to supporters in
"privatization programs" or secretly held in illegal transactions. Bank loans are given out to front
enterprises owned secretly by the thugtators or their supporters without sufficient or proper
collateral. Businessmen must pay huge bribes or kickbacks to participate in public contracting
and procurement. Those involved in the import/export business are victimized in shakedowns by
thugocrats. The judiciary is thoroughly corrupted through political interference and
manipulation.
Armageddon: Thugtators' Nuclear Option
One of the common tricks used by thugtators to cling to power is to terrorize the people with
warnings of an impending Armageddon. They say that if they are removed from power, even
after 42 years, the sky will fall and the earth will open up and swallow the people. Thugtators
sow fear, uncertainty and doubt in the population and use misinformation and disinformation to
psychologically defeat, disorient and neutralize the people. Gaddafi thuggish son warned Libya
will "spiral into civil war for the next 30 to 40 years and the country's infrastructure ruined"
without the Gadhafi dynasty. He said Libya will be awash in "rivers of blood". Gadhafi urged his
supporters: "This is an opposition movement, a separatist movement which threatens the unity of
Libya. We will take up arms... we will fight to the last bullet. We will destroy seditious elements.
If everybody is armed, it is civil war, we will kill each other."
Zenawi has been talking about "genocide" for years. The 2005 European Union Election
Observer Mission in its Final Mission Report strongly chastised Zenawi and his associates for
morbid genocide rhetoric:
The end of the campaign became more heated, with parties accusing each other of numerous
violations of campaign rules. Campaign rhetoric became insulting. The most extreme example of
this came from the Deputy Prime Minister, Addisu Legesse, who, in a public debate on 15 April,
compared the opposition parties with the Interhamwe militia, which perpetrated the 1994
Rwandan genocide. The Prime Minister made the same comparison on 5 May in relation to the
CUD [Coalition for Unity and Democracy]. The EPRDF [Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front] made the same associations during its free slots on radio and TV... Such
rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic election.
Zenawi "is quick to talk up threats to his country, whether from malcontents in the army or
disgruntled ethnic groups among Ethiopia's mosaic of peoples. Radical Oromos, a southern
group that makes up about a third of Ethiopia's people, often fall under suspicion." Last year,
hecompared Voice of America radio broadcasts to Ethiopia with broadcasts of Radio Mille
Collines which directed the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

If Africa's thugtators plan to use the "nuclear option" and bring Armageddon on their societies,
they would be wise to know who is destined to win the final battle between good and evil.
Gadhafi's fate now dangles between what he wants to do to bring this unspeakable tragedy to a
swift conclusion, the will of the Libyan people once they vanquish his mercenaries and the
International Criminal Court to whom the U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to refer
Moammar Gadhafi and members of his government in Libya for investigation and prosecution
for crimes against humanity and war crimes.Like al-Bashir of the Sudan, Gadhafi and members
of his thugocratic empire will not escape the long arms of justice. The days of massacring
unarmed demonstrators, strafing and bombing civilians and detention of innocent people by the
tens of thousands with impunity are gone. Justice may be delayed but when the people open the
floodgates of freedom, "justice (not blood) will run down like water, and righteousness like a
mighty stream" and wash out the wreckage of thugtatorship into the sea.

Thugtators and Their Business Partners in Africorruption, Inc.

Africa's thugtatorships have longstanding and profitable partnerships with the West. Through aid
and trade, the West has enabled these thugocracies to flourish in Africa and repress Africans. To
cover up their hypocrisy and hoodwink the people, the West is now lined up to "freeze" the
assets of the thugtators. It is a drama they have perfected since the early days of African
independence. The fact of the matter is that the West is interested only in "stability" in Africa.
That simply means, in any African country, they want a "guy they can do business with." The
business they want to do in Africa is the oil business, the (blood) diamond business, the arms
sales business, the coffee and cocoa export business, the tourism business, the luxury goods
export business and the war on terrorism business. They are not interested in the African peoples'
business, the human rights business, the rule of law business, the accountability and transparency
business and the fair and free elections business.

Today, the West is witnessing a special kind of revolution it has never seen: A youth-led popular
nonviolent revolution against thugtatorships in Africa and the Middle East. Neither the West nor
the thugtators know what to do with this kind of revolution or the revolutionaries leading it.
President Obama said, "History will end up recording that at every juncture in the situation in
Egypt, that we were on the right side of history." Well, what is good for Egypt is good enough
for Ethiopia, Libya, Tunisia, the Sudan, Algeria, Kenya, Bahrain, Djbouti, Somalia..., and
Zimbabwe. The decisive question in world history today is: Are we on the right side of history
with the victims of oppression or are we on the wrong side with thugtators destined to the
dustbin of history?
Power to Youths in Africa and the Middle East!

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