I believe that Archbishop Tutu and Bishop Sentamu are in despair of ever making Africans aware of one thing: the ZANU party has got to stop attacking, killing, raping and maiming the citizens of Zimbabwe.

This is what the world objects to: being told that it is stupid and understands nothing when the videos are there, the evidence exists, that the ZANU thugs have not stopped, and have no intention of stopping their attacks on fellow Zimbabweans. They even treat MDC supporters as a sub-species of human.

Just stop the killing and the attacks on MDC supporters, and the world will shut up and leave Zimbabwe to its own devices. Keep on doing this senseless slaughter, and the world will not shut up - there will be sanctions and boycotts and protests, just like over Darfur.

All these references back to colonialism is just so much rubbish. Britain never ran Rhodesia as a colony - it was run by private white contractors on business lines, then by a maverick white man called Smith, who was a thorn in the side to everybody with his "unilateral independence".

Mugabe alone is responsible for all the unrest and economic ruin since 1980. He can carry on devastating this once-beautiful country if that is what African nations want, but he has got to stop acting like Saddam Hussein by exterminating whole tribes of his own people.

I think that this article is very poorly written. Frankly even if you get past how poorly it's written it still makes no sense. Sam A., please read more before you write more. Expressing your personal anger at so many people at ones accomplishes nothing when it comes to informing you reader.

The bottom line is that making mistakes in not addressing electoral irregularities and outright fraud in other countries is no excuse in abandoning the current situation. And, while you may be correct on the dubious position on making emphasis on Mugabe over the others who did the same things to stay in power. There is still a lot to be said for drawing a line in the sand. I think most people will agree that the humanitarian nightmare under Mugabe cannot be addressed by anyone until he is gone. Frankly, much of African leadership for years has been so careful not to tread on skeletons in other people's skeletons (lest they disturb their own), that the only person who can speak out maybe Tutu. Bashing him for saying what should be said is pointless, and defending Mugabe is monstrous.

In the end this episode is exactly what we've come to expect of this continent. Until there is a united front to internal strife and external influences, Africa will be cursed with one crisis after another never taking it's rightful place of leadership in the world.

There is a great cartoon from the American revolution where a broken snake is shown as the several states, and the caption reads, "Unite or Die."

And Dr.Woland's point is? He does not address any of the central issues Sam A raised, namely, Desmond Tutu, at best has a myopic view of the issue of dealing with the glaring lack of transparency by African political leaders on electoral issues, that none of the western counties became paragons of democracy overnight, and that resorting to armed invasion by external powers to establish "democracy" on any one country may call for a similar response in other situations, which could logically lead to a recolonization of the continent. Before one start advocating for such measures wouldn't it be prudent to reference Iraq and learn from that insanity? Instead of addressing these and such associated issues raised by Sam A, what does Woland do? He accuses Sam of being a "poor" writer, whatever that means. Maybe Sam may not write like Shakespeare or Woland, but he does address the issues we should think about.

Dr Woodland this is a very poorly written response take the following quote for example "Expressing your personal anger at so many people at ones accomplishes nothing when it comes to informing you reader". Maybe you should listen to your own advice

It appears from this summation that Western Style democracy does not work in Africa.

No, what Sam is saying is that the process to attaining Western Style democracy takes time and effort. Neither Britain or the US became democratic overnight, and there are questions about whether Western countries have fully attained true democracy yet. Think Florida 2000. It took the judiciary to step in to interpret what the value of the vote was. America did not become a killing field essentially because they had a judiciary system in place that they respected regardless of individual dissatisfaction with its decisions. This is why Sam says it is better to work to ensure that such systems are in place instead of advocating for the Iraqi solution. After all how long does Mugabe have to be with us?

Mr. Akaki article lacks substance in fact, truth, and reality. His attack on Tutu's opinion in regard to Mbeki and Mandela is a show of how he lacks the touch with the common citizenry. Mr. Mandela's is a respected nationalism and a critical world voice. In this capacity, his failure to take leadership and condemn Mugabe early in the crisis left so much to be desired. Mbeki has angered the Zimbabwean people for saying on record that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe. Mandela and Mbeki's failure to act betrays their position and expections of the world citizenry, Tutu included.

About Kenya, I would urge you to get facts first. Kibake did not lose the election. Get the facts right on this issue Mr. Akaki. Mr. Kibaki never got any votes beyond 100% of the registered voters. The highest Kikaki got was 79% in Juja constituency. Mr. Odinga had more that 5 constituencies with more that 100% votes cast in his strongholds. It is a delusion to try and draw conclusion that because Odinga had 100 parliamentarians compared to Kibaki's 46, that Raila had won. Just consider that there wete many parties fielding on the Parliament Candidate but supported Mr. Kibaki. Kasarani Constituency is a good example. An ODM candidate won the seat but Mr Odinga got 48000 votes against Mr. Kibaki's 64000.

I would urge you Mr. Akaki to research your information properly before you write stuff. It reflects badly on your organization when you write innacurate stuff while you work with an organization that ought to have the best data n the african affairs.

I am Ed from "the west" and this is my view:

Zimbabwe (Zim) and the other African nations rejected the past western imposition and the creation of modernized economies, modern education and health care, and a working government. The west "forced" mechanized farming and as a result Zim was able to feed the "multitudes" of Africans. The Zim dollar was traded 1 to 1 with the US dollar at one point. Zim education and health care were the finest in Africa. Yet this has all been rejected by the whole of Africa!

The whole of Africa is comfortable with a dictator in Zim, massive migration, 1 million % inflation, and the bulk of the starving population eating from food trucks from the west. They are not moved that farming has been destroyed, along with any hope or working government in Zim.

I say the west should abandon the "hell-hole" Mugabe has created with the support of the other African states. Let them continue to brutalize and starve themselves back to the stone age.The west should immediately stop all food and humanitarian aid to these "Animals". In say, 20 years, Zim and the rest of Africa may see that they should have acted against Mugabe and will be quick to act if a similar situation arises.

Africa's actions are producing consequences. Poor decisions yield poor results. Let the west sit back and enjoy the African circus.

Ed

Stop all food and humanitarian aid to these "Animals"-- Ed, the West did not become this way overnight. There were times in the west's past when such a sad recommendation could have been advocated for them. Don't misuse the dendrites at your disposal.

Valid points made on both sides. Its easy to criticize but who has practical suggestions beyond the rhetoric?

I believe that to have a good country you must have good leaders. No amount of external influence or interference can substitute for that. To me, Africa is suffering from a power vacuum filled by leaders who have been corrupted by the rewards of power while foolishly neglecting the balance of responsibility. What is truly lacking is an internal moral foundation, upon which legislation is built, and which is governed with as much independence as possible to expose and weed out the widespread corruption.

Even though no one is truly innocent, we can still recognize evil. Even though no one is perfect, we can still offer advice and help.

Europe and the US now have established democracies and legislative systems that ensure human rights. The obstacle to African countries accepting any form of advice or help from Europe seems to be a deep-trenched "us versus them" mentality. Perhaps this stems from a hidden fear that the former colonies would like to recolonize Africa? Either way, it appears that the "Wests" past evils has led to the belief that all things "Western" are evil (hence, for example, the disregard of commercial farmers in Zimbabwe). Surely, in this light, what options are left for influencing African countries?

People who believe the "West" should not interfere at all with African politics should be reminded that it is innocent citizens who just want to raise families and enjoy life that are suffering as a result. To apathetically allow dictators or governments to commit genocide or violent oppression of basic human rights would be morally wrong and deplorable in itself!

The elections in Zimbabwe have shown it has a significant population of citizens who strongly desire democracy, but are oppressed by a violent dictatorship. While the other African nations may not be perfect themselves, such a blatant oppression should be condemned by all, regardless of what the "Wests" views are.

Africa is probably the most wealthy and beautiful continent on Earth! What a tragedy its not prospering as it should. The real challenge is for us to get involved and make a difference. What can we do? We all have brains, and if we're not willing to use our bodies we could at least think things through carefully and share constructive suggestions with our politicians or even local media. Lasting change starts from the ground up, in the thoughts and attitudes of the masses...

The author of this article has submitted the worst garbage I have yet to read from an African writer.

He has taken bits and pieces and tried to make them fit into a conclussion he had set out to reach from the start of his article.

Archbishop Tutu is a credit to South Africa, Africa and the planet. He says what has to be said without agenda. His love for the people of this continent knows no bounds.

Unlike some elite-creeping geniuses like the writer hereof.

It is extremely silly to say that Africa is "only 50 years old" and that Zimbabwe is "only 27 years old"! All of humanity comes from Africa! People have been developing social structures in Africa for millennia! Certainly long enough for any African to learn from experience why one should get rid of misguided idiots like Mugabe. More people should speak the simple truth, like Tutu has the guts to do.

The writer of the article is quite right in highlighting the idiocy of Desmond Tutu. His comments keep getting worse and worse the older he gets. Perhaps he has lost it, its hard to keep your sanity after listening to so many people's traumatic Apartheid stories when he was head of the Truth Commission. I hope a more credible independent voice emerges in South Africa in the near future. A voice that is not afraid to speak the truth, but yet at the same time is able to adequately address the complexity of politics in Africa and in other parts of the world. The situation in Zimbabwe cannot be captured in simplistic sound-bites to the Western media but needs to be addressed at ground level. Tutu's stature within the religious community should have granted him a wide enough platform for him to present the issues happening in Zimbabwe, without resorting to peanut-gallery comments to the BBC. Thabo Mbeki's negotiation efforts have been effectively undermined by Tutu, in his failure to engage with the negotiation work at hand and merely assuming that by speaking-out to the BBC, he might in turn put pressure on Mugabe. He in facts represents that very crisis of leadership that Mandela made reference to when asked to comment on Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe situation is not the only incident in which we have seen Tutu fail, his negotiation attempts in Kenya provided no resolution to their Election crisis a few months ago. My viewpoint diverts somewhat from that of the writer of the article: I think we need to see a critical examination of Democracy and its relevance to the African context, and this can only emerge from an ongoing participation and rigorous debate within Africa itself, not from the West.

Archibishop Tutu is 100 percent right. It is time to serve notice to all those illegimate African governments that rig elections to stay in power to enrich themselves at the expense of poor masses that we are coming after you regardless of whether you are armed or not. We just had the disgrace in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and so the list goes on and on. It is time to nip it in the bud. Africa cannot afford to wait 500 years or whatever long it took the west to attain democracy. We have the urgency of now. Africa did not invent all the modern technology that was invented elsewhere. Now are we to say we ought wait for centuries to invent the same medical technology or whatever technologies - computer, telecommunications technologies that were invented around the world ? It is pretty dumb on Africans' part if they cannot learn from other people mistakes or non-mistakes that they need to reinvent the wheel. Liberal democracy is a modern and working political tool to organise societies. Africa needs to wake up and learn stuff real quick or less die in her centuries' long slamber. Make Zimbabwe one example; we have to start somewhere. Most of us have lost patience with the current crop of African leaders.