Ravalomanana remains in South Africa

Ravalomanana remains in South Africa
Feb 19, 2011 1:13 PM|

Former Madagascan president Marc Ravalomanana was prevented from leaving South Africa, after an airline refused to give him a boarding pass citing a letter from the Madagascan civil aviation authority.

 
" Millions of people are waiting for me at the airport they would be disappointed if I don't come. It's a problem for me. I would advise them to be quiet and peaceful it would not be advisable for them to create problems "
"I am going to Madagascar for peace not war, why are they stopping me here now," a visibly irate Ravolomanana told journalists at the OR Tambo Airport on Saturday morning, after an Airlink flight staff member told him she could not issue him with a boarding pass.
He was shown a letter from the Madagascan civil aviation authority which read: "Mr Ravolomanana Marc and company are non grata persons in Madagascar. So to preserve public order don't take them aboard."
The letter was signed by Ratsirahonana Wilfrid Mamonjisoa, the civil aviation authority's acting director general.
Accompanied by his wife, three sons, daughter and his staff, Ravolomanana arrived at the airport two hours before his flight was scheduled to take off at 0800 GMT, to check in.
However after he presented his passport, flight staff told him to wait as she was awaiting permission from her manager.
"I can't check you at the moment, I am waiting for an update from my manager, please wait a few minutes sir."
After asking several times what was happening, Ravolomanana's co-ordinator Jens Thorsen showed him the letter from the Madagascar civil aviation authority.
"Many people in Madagascar are waiting for me at the airport, but I am still here. Now I just received this note now only here....I am very very upset."
The letter was proof that, "they are the ones scared, not me," he said waving the letter to show journalists and shrugging his shoulders.
In Madagascar, several thousand Ravalomanana supporters had already converged on the Ivato airport, a few miles from the capital Antananarivo, on Saturday morning to welcome the ousted president.
The news that he was grounded in Johannesburg had not yet reached the large crowds massing behind a police cordon, waving posters of their leader and singing hymns.
"We are fed up after two years of this transition," said Vohirana, a 35-year-old Ravalomanana loyalist, referring to the shaky rule of Andry Rajoelina, who ousted the elected president in March 2009.
Convinced that "their president" would make a heroic homecoming later in the afternoon, droves of supporters continued to walk down the main airport road, under the watchful eye of policemen in full anti-riot gear.
"We flew in last night from La Reunion especially to welcome our president," said 52-year-old Pierre, standing next to his wife.
Ravalomanana said his supporters would be disappointed if he doesn't come.
"Millions of people are waiting for me at the airport they would be disappointed if I don't come. It's a problem for me. I would advise them to be quiet and peaceful it would not be advisable for them to create problems."
Thorsen meanwhile said the deposed president was exploring other options to get to Madagascar, including taking a private jet.
"We are working on those details. At the moment we can't say anything," he said, confirming Ravolomana was still in Johannesburg.
Ravalomanana, who has spent the past two years in exile, mainly in South Africa, announced on Thursday that he would return to his homeland on Saturday, insisting he was still the island's rightful leader.
"I return to my country humbly, so that we can return to democracy, and together create a bright future for Madagascar," he told reporters.
"I know the risks facing my return, but cannot allow them to get in the way of us restoring democracy. I have nothing to fear. I have done nothing wrong," he added.
The 61-year-old self-made millionaire was last year sentenced in absentia to life in prison and hard labour for the death of 30 opposition protesters killed by presidential guards as they attempted to march on the presidential palace in February 2009.
The sentencing was Ravalomanana's third since his ouster. He was previously handed a four-year jail term and a fine for a case of conflict of interest in the purchase of a 60-million-dollar presidential jet and five years' hard labour over a land purchase.
While the autocratic Ravalomanana was criticised during his seven-year graft-tainted tenure, Rajoelina has failed to secure international recognition.
The deadlock has left the island in a political and economic limbo that foreign mediations and home-grown dialogue alike have been unable to break.
(Times, South Africa)