Can Africa ever get it right? I ask this question as Chad falls into turmoil. It is the same old story of greed and power as that country joins Kenya on a long list of countries tainting Africa's image.

Can Africa ever get it right? I ask this question as Chad falls into turmoil. It is the same old story of greed and power as that country joins Kenya on a long list of countries tainting Africa's image.

Hardly two months into the new year and Africa is already in flames. How do we expect to make this an African century if our continent is in shambles?

The world is laughing at us. Africans must accept responsibility for the mess. Violence, poverty and poor leadership are Africa's barriers to economic growth. Leaders may have rigged the elections in Kenya, but it's ordinary people who are now burning their country.

Is this the Africa we want to build, characterised by bloodshed and mayhem? Africa's obsession with violence has to end. New leadership does not seem to bring a new vision. Even the African Union has not made much difference.

Robert Mugabe is still a dictator. In Nigeria, the new president, Umaru Yar'Adua, dismissed Nuhu Ribado, his most effective anti-corruption czar. This in a country rated among the most corrupt in the world.

Here at home the new ANC leadership is hellbent on dismantling the Scorpions, a top crime-busting unit. How ironic - when crime is our biggest problem.

Lucas Ntyintyane, Cresta