Voting for the Gun Barrel

For most of its 14-year existence, the Organization of African Unity has belied its grand title. Last week representatives from 48 of the OAU'S 49 member nations gathered for their four-day annual exercise in disharmony at a spanking-new conference center in Libreville, the sleepy seaside capital of Gabon. Shortly after Host President Albert-Bernard ("Omar") Bongo pleaded for "a summit at which we talk about what unites us, not what divides us," Chad accused Libya of seizing 45,000 sq. mi. of Chadian territory. Ethiopia charged that it was the victim of a "coordinated conspiracy" of aggression led by Somalia and Sudan. Somalia countered that Ethiopia was in fact an aggressor guilty of "black colonialism," "murder" and "massacres." Benin did not even bother to attend the summit because it blames Gabon for last January's attempted coup against Benin President Mathieu Kerekou. Hoping to cool tempers, Nigeria's head of state, Lieut. General Olusegun Obasanjo, observed that "intra-African quarrels now constitute a real threat to peace and harmony in our continent."

The closest the summit came to consensus was on how to end white rule in Rhodesia. For years black nationalists have been divided between relative moderates, such as Bishop Abel Muzorewa and the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole, and the more extreme forces, which now call themselves the Patriotic Front, headed by Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. The moderates, while willing to accept a gradual transfer of power, have also been insisting that black Rhodesians be allowed to choose their leaders in free elections. But the Patriotic Front wants first to take power and then hold elections. Demonstrating their ability to separate ideology and gastronomy, delegates feasted on Rhodesian beef and lamb at Libreville banquets, then approved a resolution, proposed by Zambia's President Kenneth Kaunda, that virtually recognizes the Patriotic Front as the sole representative of black nationalists in Rhodesia. The front was designated as the only legitimate recipient of OAU financial aid.

One Faction. Senegal's Leopold Sedar Senghor, and Felix Houphouet-Boigny of the Ivory Coast, proposed that all black nationalist leaders be given equal OAU endorsement. But other delegates were influenced by Kaunda, whose backing of the Patriotic Front was a dramatic switch from his previous backing of all Rhodesian black nationalist movements. The Zambian leader concluded that OAU support for one faction would make a post-independence fight for political control less likely. He also endorsed Mugabe's argument that majority rule can be won only by armed conflict. Declared Kaunda: "A new Zimbabwe [Rhodesia] can only be born out of the barrel of a gun."

The OAU resolution once again underlined the folly of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith's policy. Had it not been for his stubborn refusal all along to accept majority rule, he could have transferred power to the moderates some years ago. Now it is probably too late, although there is speculation in Salisbury that Smith might propose surrendering power to a predominantly black coalition government that would include Sithole, Muzorewa and a number of local chiefs.

Smith is under growing domestic pressure to resolve Rhodesia's uncertain situation. Last week Desmond Frost quit as chairman of the P.M.'s Rhodesian Front Party and joined twelve other Rhodesian Front rebels in the ultra-rightist Rhodesian Action Party. This new group rejects even the limited concessions the regime has been making to blacks. As disturbing for the Smith regime is the quickened tempo of the "chicken run"--the flight of whites. Between 1,500 and 1,700 now leave Rhodesia each month; the net loss to the country (after accounting for immigration) could reach 12,000 this year.

Soviet Intervention. Back at Libreville, what was notably missing from the OAU summit was the customary volume of anti-West rhetoric. In a stunning departure from tradition, Sudanese President Jaafar Numeiry, whose country used to be a Moscow ally, attacked Soviet intervention in Africa. He thundered: "Socialist imperialism will only turn the African continent into a vast arena of conflict. We do not want to replace one imperialism with another imperialism." An Egyptian delegate agreed, warning that "the only issue that really matters here is that of Soviet interference in Africa." The conference subsequently adopted a Senegal-proposed resolution that requested OAU members not to seek "foreign intervention," nor to allow their territory to be used as a "base of aggression" against another African state.

For the host nation, the OAU summit offered a rare opportunity to star briefly on the world's political stage. Gabon--a onetime French colony of only 600,000 inhabitants that is richly endowed with oil, manganese and uranium deposits--put on a dazzling performance for its guests. Arriving delegates were met at Libreville's tiny airport by fleets of Mercedes, Cadillacs and Rolls-Royces and escorted to the conference center by siren-screaming motorcycles. Along the route, thousands of women --draped with cloths emblazoned with the portrait of President Bongo--sang and swayed rhythmically to native drums. Exclaimed one overwhelmed observer: "My God, this makes Disneyland look real!"

The delegates were quartered in luxurious villas and a new ten-story hotel, and their gourmet meals were prepared by an imported battalion of chefs (one from Maxim's in Paris). The estimated price tag for the extravaganza (including the construction of a six-lane highway, a new presidential palace and the conference-theater complex) was $800 million. That is nearly 75% of Gabon's budget for 1977, in a country whose per capita gross domestic product is $2,800 --the highest in black Africa.

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