BBC Focus on Africa Magazine

Whatever the merits of other aspects of Alex Singleton's argument in Cornering the Market (Jan-March 2008 issue), I cannot let the nonsense about European Union agricultural subsidies pass.

These are not some form of aid to African countries as he suggests, rather they have a detrimental effect on the (re)development of the agricultural sector across the continent.

Singleton makes clear that African states need to open their markets and trade more.

He should apply this logic to European agriculture, otherwise as so often happens, this is a case of "do as we say, not as we have done", of which Africans have surely already heard enough.

Christopher May, Lancaster University's professor of political economy, UK

Raw power

People who are shocked by the fact that a series of African mediators have left Kenya with nothing to show for their efforts to reconcile President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga do not understand Kenyan politicians at all.

The truth of the matter is that neither former UN chief Kofi Annan, currently chairing the negotiations, nor any of the so-called eminent statesmen of the world can get them to agree when it comes to the quest for power or retaining it when one already has it.

We Kenyans know that our politicians' egos are so bloated that they cannot move an inch once they have set their eyes on the ultimate prize – power over all others.

That's why it is a waste of time to bring all these internationally renowned peace makers to mediate between Kenyan politicians unless they can satisfy the latter's insatiable greed for power.

Unfortunately, this cannot happen as only one Kenyan can wield executive power at a time.

In this whole saga, the losers are ordinary Kenyans who are being used as pawns in a game to settle juvenile political scores by politicians.

Such politicians don't give a hoot whether the whole country burns as long as they acquire what they set out to get: Raw power.

Kimani wa Njuguna, Gatundu South, Kenya

Treading a thin line

It is obvious that President Robert Mugabe is playing the normal African game of which leader stays longer in power, by using hunger and poverty as a weapon against his people (Jan-March 2008 issue).

But Mugabe should know that the line between his games and playing with the lives of his fellow citizens is as thin as his moustache, and the game will soon be over.

Austin Okonkwo, Jos, Nigeria

Back off Brown

President Robert Mugabe is a man of his word, quite unlike the Western ex-colonialists who did not stick to the prior arrangement with Zimbabwe.

As such I believe he is right and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown should back off.

Kukura Kurerwa na Mugabe, Harare, Zimbabwe

Nigerian talent

I totally disagree with the views expressed by Piers Edwards in your January-March issue's Africa Cup of Nations section.

I don't think his list of famous players was fair.

What about Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu? Are South Africa's Benni McCarthy or Ghana's Stephen Appiah better than him? Kanu has been Africa's best player twice and played in two Champion's League finals.

There seems to be contempt for Nigerian players when celebrating football glory on the continent.

Jay-Jay Okocha was denied Africa's football crown when he was obviously the best player. Although we have numerous soccer stars, no Nigerian player is part of the South Africa 2010 project.

This is uncharitable to Nigerians and must be addressed immediately.

Mac-Edwin Ifeanyi Obi, Aba, Nigeria

Save African music

Kate Eshelby's article Right up There in your last issue of the magazine states that despite gospel music's growth in Europe and the US its roots lie in Africa.

As much as I accept this fact I feel that little is being done to sustain African music.

What has worsened the plight of local musicians is the advent of technology. For instance, if one person buys a CD, the whole community copies it on to their iPods and computers, preventing the musician from realising the profit.

I implore all music governing bodies to help reduce this problem.

Sena Nani, Tarkwa, Ghana

Kaunda's socialist legacy

Your feature articles on socialism in the January – March 2008 issue made interesting reading but surprisingly there was no mention Kenneth Kaunda's philosophy of humanism in Zambia.

This was his personal version of socialism.

Kaunda, inspired by Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere, propagated the ideology to the Zambian people and wrote several books on the subject.

Things backfired when he tried to introduce an advanced form of socialism. This upset church organisations, trade unions and university intellectuals.
Although he tried to cover all bases by propagating non-alignment, Kaunda was more inclined to the East and this irked Western organisations.

This ultimately led to the downfall of the country's sole party and, ultimately, Kaunda himself.

The Zambian situation could teach African leaders valuable lessons.

Leonard Koloko, Kitwe, Zambia

This is a selection of letters published in the April - June 2008 edition of Focus on Africa magazine.

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