Part of the reason liberation movements in many parts of the world have stayed in power long past their sell-by dates is the myth of stability. For about 30 years after being freed from the shackles of oppression, many societies cannot quite see a future without the organised formation that spearheaded their liberation.

The liberation ethos trumps all. Even if the liberators cannot boil an egg, the fact that they "liberated us" maintains a stranglehold on how the immediate aftermath of the liberation process is handled. For many of the newly liberated, it is a case of rather the liberator who is feeding at the trough than the former oppressor. Even the untainted newbie who would do a better job at governance is shunned...