WikiLeaks created an international firestorm by releasing more than 250,000 classified State Department cables since two weeks. These include embarrassing details of American diplomats' private assessments of foreign leaders.

New cables carrying more secrets keep coming out and this is causing much discomfort for Washington.

Africa is also not spared - Former South African Thabo Mbeki is said to be a "hypersensitive" and "thin-skinned" man; Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe is qualified as a "brilliant tactician" and the Nigerian government is believed to have been infiltrated by the oil giant Shell. The list goes on and on.

Gado, our cartoonist this week, shares with us his view on this new phenomenon.

Who is Gado?

http://www.rnw.nl/africa

Gado, real name Godfrey Mwampembwa, is one of Africa's most influential cartoonists. He draws a daily cartoon for Kenyan newspaper The Nation, and his work has been published in Le Monde (France), the Washington Times (US) and the Japan Times, to name a few.

Gado also came up with the XYZ Show, a satirical tv show commenting on current affairs and politics. He was named Kenyan cartoonist of the year in 1999, and received the Dutch 'Prins Claus Award' in 2007.

"I draw because I want to say something. My drawings are my tools." says the Tanzanian-born cartoonist.

 Check out the whole series Cartoon of the Week