THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has delivered the most challenging speech by a US leader in Africa for decades by castigating the continent's leadership for creating a culture of "brutality and bribery".
Adopting a tone his white predecessors never dared employ, the US President told Africa it could no longer blame the West for all its woes.
"Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner," he told the Ghanaian parliament. "But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants."
Seeking to jolt Africa's politicians out of a complacent belief that his shared ancestry with them would soften his rhetoric, Mr Obama spoke with withering directness.
Condemning tyrannical African leaders who "enrich themselves" amid the continent's chronic poverty, he promised fresh "partnerships" only with states that were well-governed.
For the kleptocrats and autocrats who still sprinkle the continent, he had a simple message: enough is enough.
"No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery," he said. "That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end."
Traditional "strong man" rulers must give way to "strong institutions" if they are to benefit from future Western assistance, he said.
"We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't," he told the country's parliament from a podium draped in traditional yellow and green kente cloth.
"Development depends on good governance, and that is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many countries. That's the change which can unlock African potential, but that is a responsibility which must be met by Africans.
"Africa's future is up to Africans." >>> Mike Pflanz in Accra | Saturday, July 11, 2009
