what a fair minded but an unraveling speech of what ails the continent and more importantly how we can advance democracy in the continent.are african leaders listening?and what a lash out to kenya.?

Obama should not absolve the West of problems in Africa.The continent is still battling with colonial legacies. For him to try to absolve US, Britain and the West of causing problems in Zimbabwe is just plain arrogance & extremely disturbing.African leaders are well aware of the fact that Land issue is the core of Zimbabwe's problems,even the 2001 Commonwealth Summit in Abuja acknowledged this fact.Zimbabwe's political problems started in 1997 when Britain's new Labour Party refused to honour the 1979 Lancaster House agreement that made Britain responsible for compensating white farmers for land reform under the willing buyer willing seller basis.Britain's refusal to honour their colonial obligations to support land reform sparked a countrywide revolution by angry,landless peasants from february 1998 to 2000, when President R.G Mugabe rightfully decided to compulsorily acquire all the land from British settlers. Britain & US reacted against the land reclamation movement with a distabilization campaign using puppets,political interference,media lies& exaggeration and illegal economic sanctions& subbotage.They used puppets in MDC&NGOs along with western media to validate their redherrings of democracy, human rights, rule of law etc while glossing over Britain's flagrant disregard of its colonial obligations.

The fact that up to now, Britain is still refusing to acknowledge its 1979 lancaster house obligations shows the worst kind of arrogant,deceitful racists the US leader is seeking to defend.Obama should think before he opens his dirty mouth otherwise African leaders will just see him as a George Bush reincarnation.He speaks as if he is unaware that the United States imposed illegal economic sanctions on 14 million Zimbabweans and they have been subbotaging our economy for the last decade inorder to effect a regime change and reverse land reform.The US and the West were not supportive of the Sadc mediated process regarding the Zimbabwean conflict.Obama speaks as if he is unaware that the United states tried to subbotage the GPA unity gvt agreement until february 2009 when it was thwarted.

If Obama is a big believer that 'Africans are responsible for Africa', how does he explain the American sponsored civil wars and insurgencies that brought untold suffering to people in Liberia,Sierra Leone,Somalia,DRC,Angola,Mozambique?.Africans can recall how the United States and Belgium killed Patrice Lumumba and plundered and looted the then Zaire for decades through their stooge Mobutu Sese Seko.DRC is in poverty and conflict today because of that legacy.That the West were oppressive and racist in their dealings with Africa since the colonial era up to now is a widely acknowledged fact which President Obama cannot water down..

The west's divide and rule tactics during colonisation left a lasting legacy that played a part in civil wars that afflicted some countries in Africa.Diplomatic, political and developmental engagement with Africa will only yield long lasting solutions if the US and the West do not continue on a condescending attitude of pretending to know what's best for Africa. There is colonial history like the land issues in Zim,Kenya,Namibia,South Africa which he can not try to sweep under the carpet. Whilst the West was busy developing, Africa was fighting colonisation to as late as 1994 and there is no way he can absolve the West completely for the problems affecting Africa today.We are not completely exonerating africans from their continent's problems.When it comes to corruption,economic mismanagement,human rights violations and bad governace africans are not blameless, but certainly the West carries part of the blame.

Well said Mabiza. It is the “same old same” stereotypical platitudes that former Presidents Carter, Clinton and Bush gave at the same location that go nowhere beyond the “points of no return” of Goree Island or CC Castle. For the first Black President, one would think that he would be less of an “August tourist’ who breaks from the mold by been bold enough to admonish the modern-day plantation owners like Shell, Halliburton, Firestone, Anglo and Xstrata mining, etc. that keep encouraging the ills these Presidents’ speech talk about. Whatever happens to calling a spade a spade? When it comes to corruption & dictatorship in Africa, it takes two to tango – from the givers to the takers, from the aiders and the abettors, from the African dictatorship and their Western backers, from the African Treasuries to the Western Banks where the loot and the identity of the looters are stashed. Africans know better than to believe these rigmaroles – we are just going along with the sad “tragic-come-drama” as if reading a very interesting novel - a saga that Stephen King could not write any better.

" Your prosperity can expand America's. Your health and security can contribute to the world's. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere." -------------------------------------------- Africa, listen. That quotation implies that global prosperity, health and security and the democracy are retrogressing because of you Africa. You keep bringing down standards for humanity.

Classic Obama rhetoric: full of aspirational crap, devoid of practical intiatives. This is classic Obama: flowery praises, usually looping the common places of a distorted doctrine of Liberalism, but short on specific projects.

This is his play book: talk big, and pretend to do something, and then promise nirvana, while noting the obvious truth that getting to nirvana will be tough, hard, bla, bla, bla.

Power then to the African youth; and down with their fathers, those fathers who have, for fifty years, made most of Africa the butt of political jokes in the world..

Obamas visit to Africa is a significant historical event. He is half African, president of US and the most powerful man in the world. His achievements in Africa would not be as revolutionary as what he symbolises. He will make history. He has achieved more that any serious man could dream. He is on the top of the world but Africa wouldn’t.

Most Africans are delusional about how the relationship of Africa and Europe is and should be. Africans thinks shell or total or Anglo should voluntarily pay tax on moral ground, Europe should share their wealth with them and Europe should not exploit Africa or have an advantage over it on trade.

Perhaps they have not hard about competitive relationship between business and states and countries over countries. That what business do. They want to pay lower taxes and exploit workers. If one doesn’t understand that one most be delusional and Obama cannot do noting about it. If shell or Anglo comes to Africa and bribe Africans and exploit them who is stupid fool.

Why do you think slavery took place in Africa and not Asia or South America because African sold Africans to Europeans for the price of nothing but sugar. If Africans don’t want Europeans to mine their resources let them do it for them self but you know what they can’t do it. Their leaders don’t have the vision and creativity to do it.

If Africa wants to develop it has to compete and not ask for anything base on social or humanitarian grounds. For example if they want free trade they can set a free trade zone in Africa. Hyper increase tax on European good and make a deal with the likes of china and India to reduce their taxes to make sure food prices don’t rise. With in six months Europe will allow African good in Europe. Africa should be competing not begging or blaming Europe for their problems.

Obamas visit to Africa is a significant historical event. He is half African, president of US and the most powerful man in the world. His achievements in Africa would not be as revolutionary as what he symbolises. He will make history. He has achieved more that any serious man could dream. He is on the top of the world but Africa wouldn’t.

Most Africans are delusional about how the relationship of Africa and Europe is and should be. Africans thinks shell or total or Anglo should voluntarily pay tax on moral ground, Europe should share their wealth with them and Europe should not exploit Africa or have an advantage over it on trade.

Perhaps they have not hard about competitive relationship between business and states and countries over countries. That what business do. They want to pay lower taxes and exploit workers. If one doesn’t understand that one most be delusional and Obama cannot do noting about it. If shell or Anglo comes to Africa and bribe Africans and exploit them who is stupid fool.

Why do you think slavery took place in Africa and not Asia or South America because African sold Africans to Europeans for the price of nothing but sugar. If Africans don’t want Europeans to mine their resources let them do it for them self but you know what they can’t do it. Their leaders don’t have the vision and creativity to do it.

If Africa wants to develop it has to compete and not ask for anything base on social or humanitarian grounds. For example if they want free trade they can set a free trade zone in Africa. Hyper increase tax on European good and make a deal with the likes of china and India to reduce their taxes to make sure food prices don’t rise. With in six months Europe will allow African good in Europe. Africa should be competing not begging or blaming Europe for their problems.

Man, you are a one heck of a delusional African, matching the illusion of the empty rhetoric of Mr. Obama.

The facts of slavery and colonialism are documented: that some Africans participated in selling other Africans, who they considered inferior and weak, and that some Africans collaborated with THE INVADERS.

Who is blaming the West for Africa's woes?

The same African leaders who are in bed with capitalist formations in INVADERLANDS.

Progressive Africans, who include the youth, have no time to blame the West; the task is not to blame the West, but to tame the West's financial, cultural and political imperialistic factions.

Got a problem with THAT?

Blame the West, my foot. The lackeys of the West in Africa, in their attempt to grab more Benjamins from the West, hypocritically blame the West.

What matters here?

Not the flowery, xanax rhetoric of Mr. Obama on his obscurantist and one-sided conception of "good governance,"---a favorite nonsensical phrase from the Washington Consensus, and highjacked by the irrationalist neo-conservatives---BUT THE MORAL IMPERATIVE THAT A TERRITORY OR A CONTINENT MUST CONTROL ITS RESOURCES.

That is the issue, and no rhetorical tour de force can efface it. Witness the Chinese bashing in America: "the Chinese are coming"; and, other xenophobic expressions of ignorance are the staple of the 'thought' of the average American.

Accordingly, the issue is RESOURCE CONTROL, not some ideological claptrap called "good governance."

And, do you have the moral backbone to deny that Africa's resources have been, and continue to be, looted by INVADERS with the help of the fathers of African 'independence'?