In an article in The Observer, John Sentamu said Prime Minister Gordon Brown should not regard the economic chaos and repression in Zimbabwe as an “African problem.” He said President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has done nothing to change the situation.

“At best, he has been ineffectual in his efforts to ... persuade Robert Mugabe to reverse his unjust and brutal regime,” Sentamu said. “At worst, Mbeki is complicit in his failing to lead the charge against a neighbor who is systematically raping the country he leads.”

Sentamu, who was imprisoned under Idi Amin, compared Mugabe to the former Ugandan dictator.

“Like Idi Amin before him in Uganda, Mugabe has rallied a country against its former colonial master only to destroy it through a dictatorial fervor,” he said.