It has been a tale of two elections - a tale which, on the surface at least, seems to have two different endings. In Zimbabwe, the flicker of hope that Robert Mugabe would bow to the will of the people has all but been extinguished; while in Kenya the shocking post-election violence has led to a power-sharing pact and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, being sworn in yesterday as Prime Minister.

It is tempting to conclude that while Zimbabwe continues on the road to perdition, Kenya has pulled back from the brink. Tempting but wrong. The real lesson in both countries is that the “Big Man” culture of the all-powerful African presidency is alive and well - while democracy is in intensive care.

In Kenya, the “power-sharing” Government is no such thing. The elderly President and his clique remain firmly in control of the crucial ministries, despite the widespread assumption that his party fixed the result of the election. For the wananchi (ordinary people) who got up before dawn, walked for miles to get to polling booths and waited in long queues because they really believed their vote would make a difference, the result leaves a sour taste.

Yet it says something about the state of governance in Africa that the Kenyan outcome is being hailed internationally as a victory. The truth is that poll fixing has become so routine in Africa that even a lop-sided coalition government is seen as a big concession on the part of Africa's elite.

Take the mysterious delay in releasing the result of Zimbabwe's election. When a similar delay was announced in Kenya just before the new year, a friend of mine who happens to be a Zambian opposition MP turned to me and said tersely: “That's what happened to us.”

His party lost the closely fought Zambian election. You don't have to be a Bletchley Park codebreaker to realise that a “delay” in an African election is usually a signal of behind-the-scenes skulduggery by the ruling party. Yet Western nations such as Britain have been reluctant to shout “cheat”, and continue to dole out large dollops of aid.

One detects a whiff of indulgent paternalism about this: that Africa has to “learn” about democracy over years. Such an approach is fatally misguided, and a severe injustice to voters across the continent - ordinary people who, despite the odds, continue to hold faith in the power of democracy.

If Africa is to progress, there has to be accountability through the ballot box; and governments such as Britain's, backed by its powerful aid budget, should stop treating the new breed of dictators with kid gloves.

Ishbel Matheson is a former BBC East Africa correspondent

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