But for the fact that he is genuinely dangerous, we might have dismissed Robert Mugabe as a relic, unaware of his state of being, even as the edifice he inhabits crumbles around him.

Mr Mugabe, however, poses a menace to his own people and is an embarrassment to those who, in adherence to democratic principles, supported his fight against white minority rule in Rhodesia.

Jamaica was a key member of that coalition with Michael Manley playing a leading role in fashioning the Lancaster House Agreement that secured Zimbabwe's independence. Bob Marley was the featured performer at Zimbabwe's independence celebration.

Twenty-eight years later, Mr Mugabe, 84, and corroded by power, presides over an open and vulgar rape of Zimbabwe's democracy. Worse, he is a serial rapist, violating the country with every serious challenge to his rule over the last decade.

'Threat to democracy'

This week, Jamaica finally spoke out against developments in Zimbabwe in the kind of language that we have urged for a long time. For Mr Mugabe and the process over which he has presided is beyond "a threat to democracy".

At the United Nations, too, the Security Council has condemned Mr Mugabe's continued use of violence and harassment against his opponents, which caused Mr Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of Friday's run-off election for the presidency. In the first round of the election on March 29, Mr Tsvangirai won more votes than Mr Mugabe, but did not reach the threshold for outright victory. Mr Mugabe, nonetheless, tried to steal victory by, first, attempting to rig the vote, then orchestrating a lengthy delay in announcing the results.

He has gone further with the intimidation. Mr Tendai Beti, general secretary of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is in jail on charges of treason, for which he could face the death penalty. And Mr Tsvangirai himself has had to take refuge in the Dutch Embassy to avoid arrest. There are continuous police raids on MDC offices and scores of its supporters have been killed.

Assumes no responsibility

In his delusional world, Mr Mugabe sees nothing wrong with his rule and assumes no responsibility for the collapse of his country's economy that has driven more than four million Zimbabweans, who faced hunger and privation, into exile. He argues that this is the fault of the West and the former colonial powers, who yearn for the return of white ascendancy in Zimbabwe.

The good thing is, nobody is any longer buying Robert Mugabe's tired and worn spiel. Across democratic Africa, leaders have grown exasperated with him. Even South Africa's ruling African National Congress, in a break with the quiet diplomacy of President Thabo Mbeki, has accused Mr Mugabe of "riding roughshod over the hard-won democratic rights" of the Zimbabwean people. Yet, Mr Mugabe insists on going ahead with the election which the world, including his closest neighbours, deem to be flawed and illegitimate.

While no one is willing to endorse the kind of extreme action to turf Mr Mugabe out of office, the world must make it clear to him that, if he goes ahead with the election, his presidency will not be validated. Caricom must take a stand and tell Mr Mugabe that he has shamed us all.