KENYA: Kenyan PM calls for troops to remove Mugabe

Record ID: 362077

  • Title: KENYA: Kenyan PM calls for troops to remove Mugabe
  • Date: 8th December 2008
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (DECEMBER 7, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KENYAN PRIME MINISTER RAILA ODINGA WALKING INTO NEWS BRIEFING VENUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENYA'S PRIME MINISTER, RAILA ODINGA, SAYING: "President Kikwete must now call an urgent summit of the heads of AU states, who in turn must formulate a resolution to send African Union troops into Zimbabwe. If no troops are avail
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADY7D454NUU2B2E9G52FJ6IVBV
  • Story Text: Kenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, called on Sunday (December 7) for the deployment of African Union (AU) troops to Zimbabwe to "take control" of the country.
    Odinga called on the AU chairman, Tanzania's president Jakaya Kikwete, to take action as pressure mounts from the international community, especially Western nations which accuse Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe of ruining the once prosperous country and exposing its people to famine and disease.

    "President Kikwete must now call an urgent summit of the heads of AU states, who in turn must formulate a resolution to send African Union troops into Zimbabwe. If no troops are available, then the AU must allow the UN to send its forces into Zimbabwe with immediate effect, to take control of the country and ensure urgent humanitarian assistance to the people dying of cholera and starvation," Odinga told journalists in Nairobi.
    African nations are also growing more uncomfortable with Mugabe, though they still view the 84-year-old as a hero of Africa's liberation era.
    Odinga and Botswanan Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani have called for his removal, as has South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel laureate.
    Odinga accused regional bodies of being "indecisive" in taking action against Mugabe, saying former South African President Thabo Mbeki had failed in reining in the Zimbabwean leader.

    "SADC (Southern African Development Community) has acted without conviction or resolve. The AU has shrunk from shouldering its responsibility to offer leadership and direction in ending this tragedy. The power sharing attempt in Zimbabwe has failed disastrously due to the indecisive conduct of the mediator, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, and the intransigence of Mugabe," said Odinga.
    Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on September 15 to form a unity government, but are in dispute over control of key ministries.

    "Elections have already taken place on March 29th this year. The MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai won those elections. There is no need for any other election and as Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said, Mugabe's case deserves no less than investigations by the International Criminal Court at the Hague," Odinga said.
    Zimbabwe is on the verge of collapse. Food stocks are running out, unemployment is above 80 percent and prices double every 24 hours. The health system is in tatters, unable to treat many of those infected with cholera.
    The epidemic has forced Zimbabwe to declare a national emergency and appeal for foreign help. Britain is among European nations that have promised aid.
    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has branded Mugabe's government a "blood-stained regime" and said it was responsible for the cholera epidemic that has killed at least 575 people.
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