As Libya burns, African leaders twitch nervously and watch in silence. At 1631hrs, the phone rings. It is President Mills of Ghana: “Hmmm, Brother Muammar is worrying us ooooo. Why does he like trouble like that?”

“Kale, I just finished rigging another election successfully without shedding blood, why can’t he learn.” Museveni of Uganda responds
Ghana: “So what do we do? After all, he is our African brother plus… "
“Ah , Ah" interjects Goodluck of Nigeria. "E no be African, na Arab. I beg, make him no bring e wahala, I don tire for Ouattara who no wan play musical chairs with Gbago."
Kikwete of Tanzania: “Brothers at least, let us release a statement condemning him; the whole world is listening to our silence.”
Mali: What!! Condemn? What if he regains power, Are you that ungrateful?
 
Therein lies the dilemma that erodes the thin credibility of African leaders. They prefer to appease rogue leaders who threaten to dismantle the region, than to castigate them. In the case of Moron Muammar Gaddafi, they are dealing with a manipulator extraordinaire. He was born June 7th 1942. By the time he was 27 years old, he had staged a violent coup which over threw King Idiris of Libya.  He established the Libyan Arab Republic, a new government that was supposed to bring social justice to Libyans. Instead, it became an oppressive vessel for Gaddafi and his family to amass billions in wealth.

They built mansions and empires from Tripoli to Sirte, and still had enough surplus to buy the loyalty of African countries. He promised aid, investments and brotherhood a la United States of Africa. With one hand he built mosques and resorts. The other hand is accused of killing  migrant workers from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Sudan, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. Some international organizations go further and accuse him of being involved in the Liberian civil war as well as the crisis that plagues Darfur.

In the face of these atrocities, the leaders of the respective African countries remained silent. They were too busy thanking Gaddafi for his generosity.  Even the West seemed to be warming up to the trinket adorned dictator.  In 2003, the UN imposed sanctions were removed and Gaddafi was on the guest list of global conferences and summits. Basking in the revelation that decades of disdain he suffered as a result of human rights abuses was fading, Gaddafi surged forward. Tripoli became a world class city where international artistes jetted in to perform their hits. To top it off, In 2009, the  African Union overlooked their policy not to reward coup makers and coronated Gaddafi chairperson of the African Union. The gods were smiling on Gaddafi. 

Until February 2011 when the Ebola protest spreading through Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen found a host in quietly disgruntled Libya. The streets erupted with chants of "Gaddafi must go". At first he was in denial. "My people love me" he declared to Christian Amanpour of ABC News. Then he vowed to die a martyr.  His wish was almost granted on March 19th  2011, when the US and its Allies bombed his compound. Apparently, the humanitarian crisis in neither Congo nor Ivory Coast was grave enough to warrant a NATO intervention. But Gaddafi? He had to go immediately! Hence the airstrikes which exploded across Benghazi and Misarata.
 
Gaddafi must have scurried into an unknown hole for when he reappeared, the haggard look wearing him bore no semblance to the  Ray Ban clad man who used to stare daringly at international cameras. That posture of an untouchable has expired. Yet African leaders still seem intimidated. They watch in silence. Why would they condemn Gaddafi now when they failed to cough when he abused and killed their own. On March 27th, Secretary of State Clinton mentioned that the African Union is calling for the ousting of Libya and Uganda just announced that it is freezing Gaddafi's assets. Gaddafi must be aghast.  His brethrens and co-conspirators are rejecting him.

At 1800hrs, the phone rings again. It is Jean Ping of Gabon: "Brothers we must act. They are laughing at us."  Wade of Senegal: " At least lets send him a text message first, he will appreciate it"
At 2100 hours, Gaddafi receives a text. It reads " A Moron and his sycophants are soon parted"