MEDIA REACTION WSSD; HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 001965

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION WSSD; HARARE



1. Under headline "Needed: sustainable political
development" the independent daily "The Daily News"
dedicated its August 27 editorial to encouraging
African leaders attending the Earth Summit in South
Africa to "relate the fight against poverty and
HIV/AIDS to the development of sustainable political
systems." Excerpts:


2. "The World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD),opened by President Thabo Mbeki this week will
enable many African leaders to exchange ideas on how
to fight poverty and HIV/AIDS on the continent. For
Africa it seems that far more important at this stage
is the development of sustainable political systems.
Many analysts have suggested that as long as African
politics are mired in conflict, there will be little
time to concentrate on the fight against poverty.
They suggested that the `political kingdom' to which
Kwame Nkurumah referred, may still be an unattainable
dream for many Africans. Has Africa had much time to
tackle poverty since Ghana became independent in 1957?
There have been coups, civil wars, corruption on a
grand scale, there has been electoral fraud on a huge
scale. Yet poverty has escalated. Clearly, what
needs urgent attention in Africa today are its
political systems. Democracy has a chance, but is
frowned upon by many leaders because it deprives them
of the chance to be tribal chiefs they really want.
At the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, let's hope they
can relate the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS to
the development of sustainable political systems as
well."

SULLIVAN