What is even more insulting to African women is that the AU bypassed them to pick men whose commitment to democracy and human rights may be worse than that of Laurent Gbagbo, the man clinging to the Ivorian presidency despite losing the election. Of the five men appointed to lead the mission to persuade Gbagbo to step down, only two - Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and South Africa's Jacob Zuma - can claim to have come to power democratically.