A thought provoked by some recent events in Africa

I hope not to alienate readers of this blog with a post like this, but I had a thought I wanted to share on reading about the current demagoguery unfolding in Zimbabwe. Is it fair to expect England (and like nations who plunder and pillage) to work with the citizenry of Zimbabwe and mediate the current electoral crisis there and ensure that a smooth runoff election is conducted? I know people will accuse me of talking through my hat (no, do not wear one; but the metaphor was irresistible) but is it not true that Zimbabwe was under British rule until as recently as the 1980's or the fact that the previous name of this country (Rhodesia) was after Mr. Cecil John Rhodes; a British colonial statesman and diamond miner who decided to ‘found’ this country from parts of South Africa?
I guess the bigger question is this: Should the countries that had ruled and exploited other nations and made their billions in these nations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries continue to have responsibilities and obligations towards their vassals even if the said nation had declared independence? For some reason I feel they should (at least in a ‘responsible parent’ sort of way). For some reason, I feel, in a majority of cases the Brits seem to have run away with the riches of the land, sucked the land dry and then left the land when it became politically, culturally and racially uncomfortable for them to stay on... Just a thought...

No, this post was not motivated by xenophobia or any such thing – it was just motivated by a distaste provoked by what one sees as one surveys the failed democracies of Africa trying to find their ways out of quagmires that may not have been created by them.

This image from Associated Press shows an armed guard providing caddie and security services to golfers in the background at the Leopard Rock Hotel in Rhodesia on Dec 15th 1978. Image ripped from here.