The five-nation tour to Africa by President Bush is of immense political significance especially in a time, when the continent at large, is besieged with diverse issues from political unrest to power outages. In a speech in Tanzania, the first destination in his itinerary, he called for free and fair elections of Zimbabwe which will be held on March 29 and further stressed that the people of Zimbabwe deserved a government that recognized “basic human rights.
It is evident in his words that he has an agenda beyond the borders of the touring nations. As a part of poverty alleviation of Tanzania, Bush has signed a $698m deal with their President Jakaya Kikweteto. Such deals are extended as part of Millennium Challenge Account, which is provided to those countries which conform to democratic principles and sound economic policies.
Political stability in Zimbabwe is of primary concern due to the carnage took place after the recent elections in Kenya. Besides, inflation in Zimbabwe have broken all the records with Consumer prices rising up by 240 percent in the month of December, taking year-on-year inflation to a new annual high of 66,212 per cent. Analysts state that they would not be surprised even if the inflation goes as high as 120,000 per cent before elections.
Before Bush reaches back home he would be visiting Rwanda, and other eastern African nations including Benin, Ghana and Liberia. He further urged the US congress to renew his global program to combat Aids by doubling the amount from $15bn to $30bn. Mr. Bush has also asked to act immediately to contain the massacre in Sudan’s region of Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have died and two million been displaced since 2003.
In addition, to put an end to the Kenyan misery, Bush has backed a possible power-sharing deal between President Mwai Kibaki and his principal opponent, Raila Odinga. Experts are skeptical about Bush’s tour because the time left for him to fulfill the promises is very short, as his term is nearing to an end.