Where corrupt leaders cling to power

The story of Robert Mugabe is the story of Africa. It is the manifestation of the crisis that an entire continent has to deal with, where corrupt leaders cling to power like leeches. Their very existence and survival depends on the blood they suck. Without blood, the bloodsucker dies.

Africa is wonderful. No African with a sane mind would choose to abandon his or her country and flee to the East or the West, or struggle in the brutal cold of the Arctic.

It is as if the continent is solely habituated for human species. Human body and mind prosper in the African climate. It is healthy for the body and soul.

Unfortunately corrupt leaders are ruining the continent. Even those who hold power with good intentions at first, like Mugabe himself was, soon change and get corrupted.

The story of Africa doesn’t end there. Western powers who have ruined it first with their colonial involvement are still continuing their dirty work of exploitation by supporting the dictators.

I really hope honest people in Africa will rise to take leadership and take care of their countries and its people.

Mugabe is not an isolated incident. It is a painful story that never ends.

Africa is a precious gift which has been bestowed to its people. I hope Africans will start to appreciate it and take care of it. As I also hope Western countries will stop interfering in its affairs.

- The reader is based in Toronto, Ontario