Navel-gazing of leaders sees lofty ideals for Africa go belly up

"In a stirring speech to the National Assembly exactly two decades ago, then president Thabo Mbeki seemed to speak for an entire continent of what he called an "African century" in which Africans themselves would take the initiative in stopping the wars ravaging the continent, eliminating preventable disease, poverty and underdevelopment," writes Barney Mthombothi.