(JT) In a speech to the African Union, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bluntly said “the status quo is broken” for long-standing African leaders like Ethiopia’s 20-years ruler Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and “it is time for them to go.”

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has usually welcomed high-ranking US officials including former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was oddly absent on Monday when Clinton arrived at the Bole international airport in Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the African Union (AU). Clinton was instead welcomed at the airport by Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Haile-Mariam Desalegne.

“Too many people in Africa still live under long-standing rulers, men who care too much about the longevity of their reign and too little about the legacy that should be built for their countries’ future” declared Mrs. Clinton. She said that authoritarian African governments ruled by aging despots were “no longer acceptable.” Many African countries -- including Sudan, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe -- are governed by leaders who have been in power for 2 or more decades.

Clinton also acknowledged that Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gadhafi has given financial support to many poor African countries and institutions historically, including to the AU and to the ANC during its war against white minority rule in South Africa. But Clinton said it is time to for the AU to abandon Gadhafi because he is killing his own people in Libya. However, the AU accuses NATO and the West for supporting one-side of the conflict in Libya instead of finding a peaceful solution for power sharing. Many in Africa believe the US is only interested in controlling Oil resources in countries like Sudan and Libya.

While Secretary Clinton was in Zambia last week, she also warned Africa about its growing economic relations with China. She said China is interested only in Africa’s natural resources and warned about “new colonialism” in Africa.