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2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Kenyan
PM describes Mugabe as a dictator
Reuters
June 05, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0578414420080605
Kenyan Prime
Minister Raila Odinga described President Robert Mugabe as a dictator
on Thursday in one of the harshest attacks on the Zimbabwean ruler
by another African leader.
Zimbabwean opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a March election but
failed to win the required majority to avoid a run-off. Tsvangirai's
MDC party says it won the poll and is taking part in the June 27
ballot under protest.
"I have advised
Morgan Tsvangirai to accept to participate in the run-off, which
has been called because dictators know no boundaries," Odinga
told a news conference at the World Economic Forum for Africa in
Cape Town.
Odinga disputed the victory
of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in an election in December, prompting
deadly clashes, but the former opposition leader then agreed to
a power-sharing deal.
Odinga said Tsvangirai's
decision to campaign in the run-off would show "how far Mugabe
and his cronies are willing to go."
Zimbabwe's opposition
has said it fears that Mugabe's officials will rig the results of
the run-off to extend his 28-year rule, as they are accused of doing
in past elections.
"As a pan-Africanist,
I think that I would be failing in my duty if I did not point out
that what is happening in Zimbabwe is a big embarrassment to the
entire continent of Africa," Odinga added.
"We cannot be speaking
about democracy and democratisation of the continent when we condone
what is happening in Zimbabwe."
It is rare for African
leaders to publicly criticise Mugabe, who is still seen as a hero
by millions on the continent for fighting to end British rule in
Zimbabwe in 1980 and for supporting other anti-colonial struggles.
South African
President Thabo Mbeki has been among those criticised for taking
too soft a line on Mugabe's government, which has presided over
an economic meltdown marked by inflation over 165,000 percent and
chronic food shortages.
*Reporting
by Wendell Roelf; writing by Paul Simao; editing by Matthew Tostevin
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