Charles Moreira's letter ( Mugabe's a victim of Western imperialism

) deserves a prompt response. Nobody can take away President Robert Mugabe's credentials as a liberation fighter and one of the founding fathers of a free Zimbabwe.

However, I see danger in showering praises to our leaders for what they were (20 years ago) instead of who they are today. Recent history is demonstrating to us Africans, I'm proud to be one, that it is very easy for former liberators to become current oppressors.

Unfortunately these are issues which we have no choice but to tackle head on. Moreira's letter does not help Africans to come up with real solutions to our problems.

Fine, the West "stuffed us big time" during slavery, colonisation, apartheid and the Cold War; such is our past, as such we have to embrace it. However, blaming our current situation to everybody and every "ism" in the history of the world except the way we have handled governance, does not help anyone.

It's time we rebuild that which was destroyed by centuries of occupation and civil war. In so doing we have to move together as people and chart our destiny together. The only way that can be done successfully is to promote openness, transparency and accountability in our governments, our elected representatives and the private sector.

Moreira should not economise on facts. It's true that the US and the European countries have been empathetic on the rejection of the results in Zimbabwe, to a large extent these nations have been the main critics of the election results. However, I take issue with the fact that Moreira paints this notion that only the West and some "Australians" have expressed this sentiment.

The South African Observer Mission is in disarray after members of the mission publicly disagreed on whether the Zimbabwe election was free and fair. The Commonwealth Observer Mission (which cannot be accused of being dominated by Western member states) delivered a scathing report on how elections were conducted in Zimbabwe, the same report lead to the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth.

The two observer missions of the Southern African Development Community  it's time to deal with the real issues facing our continent. We need intelligent people like Moreira to be honest and help the people of Zimbabwe rebuild their economy and heal the wounds.

However the world spins, Africa's fate will be determined by what we as the masses allow our leaders to do and get away with!