Kenyan PM calls on AU to send troops to Zimbabwe
24/11/2008 17:30
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has called on the African Union (AU) to
send international peacekeepers to Zimbabwe.
The 63-year-old Odinga
criticized African leaders for condoning President Robert Mugabe "as if
everything was normal." He said millions of people were suffering because of
Mugabe's despotic rule.
"Because there is no legitimate government in
Zimbabwe, the African Union should consider sending a peacekeeping force," he
said.
"The fact that Mugabe was a freedom fighter does not give him rights to
own Zimbabwe and hang on to power," Odinga said yesterday evening on arrival in
Nairobi from his weekend tour of the coastal city of Mombasa.
"Mugabe is not
willing to share power with Morgan Tsvangirai, but wants to monopolize
instruments of power. This is the problem in Zimbabwe," he said.
The PM said
Africa should stand firm against Mugabe as it was being cast in bad light. He
urged African leaders to consider the issue of legitimacy in leadership whenever
they look at the situation in Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai won the most votes in
March's presidential election but fell short of an outright majority to be
elected president. However, his Movement for Democratic Change became the
largest party in parliament for the first time.
He pulled out of a run-off
against Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwe's top leader since independence from
Britain in 1980, accusing the 84-year-old of orchestrating attacks against his
opposition supporters.
Odinga, who became prime minister under a
power-sharing agreement reached with President Mwai Kibaki after disputed
elections, has been critical of Mugabe, and other African leaders who Odinga
said turn a blind eye to Zimbabwe's suffering.
"What is happening in Zimbabwe
could not have happened in Europe. Members of the EU could not allow a leader
who was not legitimately elected to attend their meeting. It cannot happen. So
this is the reason why Africa continues to remain backward," Odinga said.
"To
many African leaders the situation in Zimbabwe has returned to normal. This is
because these leaders carry the same baggage like Mugabe," Odinga said.
The
Kenyan PM said he doesn't understand why Mugabe was being allowed to share
platforms with African leaders in both regional and international
forums.
"Recently he was in Kampala attending an African leaders' meeting and
you will see that no one expressed a word about the situation in
Zimbabwe."
Mugabe and Tsvangirai reached a power-sharing agreement on Sept.
15, but the establishment of an all inclusive government, in which Mugabe will
be president and Tsvangirai prime minister, has faltered as the two fight over
control of key ministries.
Odinga said the recent action by Mugabe's
administration to deny visas to international mediators is likely to worsen the
crisis in the south African nation and therefore the need for remedial
actions.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and former US president Jimmy
Carter were reportedly denied entry into Zimbabwe on Saturday ahead of peace
talks slated for Harare.
Zimbabwe has however denied the claims, saying the
meeting had only been postponed because Annan had not notified the government of
the timing and program.
Xinhua
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