It is not often enough that Jamaicans and most other Caribbean nationals, as people in the diaspora, get the opportunity to celebrate political events in Africa. And when we do, it is not usually about the management of competitive elections and/or their aftermath.

There was much to celebrate, and signs of hope, in one small part of the continent last week, where political power changed hands after a close election without the wrangling and violence that too often attend such developments in Africa.

Our focus, of course, is Ghana, the West African nation of Ghana, which, like most of black Africa, has emotional connections for the majority of West Indian people. They are kith and kin.

But there is something special, as was underlined by visits in recent years to Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean by the recently incumbent president, John Kufuor, and his predecessor, Jerry Rawlings. Ghana was the point of departure for many African slaves heading for the West Indies and when that country became the first of the British colonies on the continent to gain independence a half-century ago, several Caribbean nationals were in the thick of Kwame Nkrumah's movement.

Substantial change

For a long while, Ghana lost its way. Idealism faded, democracy was eroded and military rule and dictatorship ascended. Things have changed substantially.

Last Wednesday in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, John Atta Mills, a former university professor, who represented the National Democratic Party, was sworn in as president, as successor to Mr Kufuor. He beat Nanna Akufo-Addo of the National Patriotic Party, which had previously held the presidency.

Of significance is the margin of victory, or, conversely, of defeat. After a run-off poll, Mr Mills gained 50.13 per cent of the votes to 49.87 per cent for Mr Akufo-Addo. Such narrow margins in elections, even in mature democracies, are often contentious - and there were some in Ghana, including complaints of voting irregularities and repairing to court by some parties.

What is important, though is that, in the end, all sides respected the results, Mr Mills took the oath of office and declared his intention to be president for all Ghanaians. Indeed, it was the second time that an election was won by an opposition presidential candidate since Mr Rawlins stepped down as military leader in the early 1990s. Ghana's political stability has brought rewards, the most potent of which is the near six per cent annual economic growth it has enjoyed for most of this decade.

Clear lesson

There is a clear lesson here for others in Africa, which we commend in particular to the despot of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe: there is value to democracy.

Last summer, the octogenarian, Mr Mugabe lost the first round of presidential election to Morgan Tsvangirai and then hijacked the second. He has since snubbed and jeered at the power-sharing agreement to which he has signed on. In the meantime, Zimbabwe's economy has collapsed and its people are suffering.

Mr Mugabe must not be accommodated any longer. Jamaica must signal its displeasure with the Zimbabwe despot by withdrawing the Order of Jamaica it bestowed on him and encourage Caribbean Community countries to suspend diplomatic relations with Harare until Mr Mugabe comes to his senses or departs.

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