disutils looking for .../python2.1/config/makefile

[Paul]

I have Mandrake 8.0, upon which I installed Python 2.1 using the RPM 
available on python.org.  I am trying to install the MySQLdb module, and 
keep getting this error message:

unable to open /usr/lib/python2.1/config/Makefile (no such file or 
directory)

I do not have a config directory, and would appreciate a pointer.

Thank you in advance,

Paul