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Trouble At The African Union Meeting In Joburg

By Kole Omotoso
05 July 2015   |   3:00 am
APART from the issue of biometric documents for Alaba, (considered under age, who considers himself ageless, while the South African consular section argue that they have no ageless column in their forms etc) in case Mr. Trouble was trafficking Alaba forth into the world, (let him try and he will see if I will not…

640px-African_Union_conference_center_and_office_complex,_AUCCAPART from the issue of biometric documents for Alaba, (considered under age, who considers himself ageless, while the South African consular section argue that they have no ageless column in their forms etc) in case Mr. Trouble was trafficking Alaba forth into the world, (let him try and he will see if I will not be the one selling him, all over again) apart from all this wahala, Trouble and Alaba got into South Africa before President Omar al-Bashir of the Sudan left or did not leave South Africa.

A South African court request that President Al-Bashir be forced to stay on in South Africa pending the moment President Zuma would be ready to hand him over to the International Criminal Court at the Hague.

There are some NGOs in Joburg who would even suggest that President Zuma should go with him as well, although they have not filed any case against him at the ICC.

Trouble and Alaba arrived to find the meeting-taking place at Sandton, the Sodom and Gomorrah of shopping next only to Dubai. They found a B & B in Alexander, across the Pretoria Main Road, opposite Sandton. B & B, in some places means bed and breakfast but in Alex, it means bed and break-in!!!

While they waited at an ice-cream place for the press briefing that would follow the final meeting of the presidents, a young man approached Trouble and introduced himself. His name is Shabalala from Zimbabwe. Could Trouble explain to him what President Al-Bashir did that the courts in South Africa are saying he must not leave the country? The reason he wanted to know is that he would like to do the same thing. Here he was, from across the language border and he is being asked, no, he is being persuaded in no uncertain terms that he must leave South Africa like yesterday.

What did Al-Bashir do that he was being asked not to leave the country? Perhaps, if he knew what the president of Sudan did and he is being asked not to leave the country, he too could do the same and then, nobody would ask him to leave the country anymore?

The three of them found seats and settle down to enjoy their ice cream and attempt to clear the issues involved in Shabalala’s query. “This is not as easy as it looks. Yes, President Al-Bashir is being asked not to leave the country but it is like holding you down waiting for your creditor to come and pounce on you. That’s not a particularly good way of staying in the country. He is being accused of being a criminal.”

Shabalala allowed a slop ice cream to escape his lips while he interrupts Trouble. “But I am being accused of being a criminal and being asked to leave the country like yesterday? Why does he get to stay in the country when he is accused of being a criminal like me? Is it because he is a politician and I am only an ordinary teacher still looking for a class to teach? Is that fair? And we are all Africans, or are we? Some are more African than others? Some are more criminal than others? Because his is a VIP criminality than my ordinary criminality? I haven’t even done any criminality, they are just lying against me. Or are they also lying against him? Whatever, they ask him to stay and they ask me to leave . . .” “Like yesterday,” Alaba concludes for Shabalala.

“Well”, begins Trouble, “some things are not easy to explain. One of them is how people are treated for the same action. But, be rest assured, my dear brother from Africa South of the Sahara, what President Al-Bashir has done you could never do a 100th of it . . .” Again Mr. Shabalala interrupted Trouble: “You don’t know me. I would do anything as long as they would let me stay in South Africa, the way they’re asking President Al-Bashir to stay.” “Ok, if it is so nice to be asked to stay, why do you think he got into his private presidential plane and vamoosed out of South Africa?” Mr. Shabalala moved conspiratorially next to Mr. Trouble to whisper: “You don’t believe that rumour do you? I wouldn’t hurriedly leave South Africa if the courts say I must stay when I know what awaits me on the other side of the same language border.

Does Al-Bashir not fear what awaits him when he gets home?” Trouble was beginning to realise that his friend from sub-Saharan Africa was really not cued for what was going on outside of Zimbabwe. “You see, Al-Bashir is the president of Sudan … “ “And I’m president of nowhere!” Trouble ignored the interruption and continued his explanation. “…. And as president of Sudan he can return to the country. What he did was that sometime ago, he was fighting some people who wanted to break away from his country.

They have already broken away from his country and now they are breaking away from the breakaway country, if you follow their drift or my diversion. Anyway, Al-Bashir was determined to fight these rebels with everything including a drug called Janjaweed. With Janjaweed al-Bashir wiped out villages after villages in the west of the Sudan, where Darfur was. What he did was considered a crime against humanity and he was invited to The Hague to come and defend his actions and the justification of using Janjaweed against human beings.”

Slowly, Shabalala placed his melting ice cream on the table and said: “So, he’s staying at home just as President Mugabe is staying at home and I am out of the country. He is the one who did the janjaweeding in Matabeleland, but I’m the one who leaves the country. Just as the people of Darfur left the country and President Al-Bashir goes and stays there.” With that Mr. Shabalala stood up, thanked Trouble and Alaba and walked away, quickly, even almost running, as if he had come to some decision that he must put into action immediately. What is he going away to do now?

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