Kenya's Odinga Calls for Mugabe to Quit, `Free' Vote (Update1)
By Viola Gienger
June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga called on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down and said other governments should echo the demand and send peacekeeping troops to organize ``free and fair'' elections.
Odinga, who helped form a coalition government in Kenya earlier this year to end post-election violence, suggested Mugabe shouldn't escape responsibility for his abuses. South African President Thabo Mbeki should speak more strongly ``against impunity in Zimbabwe,'' Odinga said.
``Zimbabwe is an eye-sore, an embarrassment to the African continent,'' Odinga told an audience in Washington today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ``It is sad that many African heads of state are quiet when the disaster'' is looming in Zimbabwe.
It was at least the second time this month that Odinga called Mugabe to task in an international forum. Odinga broke with African leaders earlier this month at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, to describe Mugabe as an ``embarrassment'' as Zimbabwe nears a second round of voting to elect a president on June 27.
``The question is do we have conditions for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe at the moment?'' Odinga told reporters after the CSIS event. ``The answer is no, we don't.''
Odinga took the newly re-established prime minister's post in April under an agreement reached to end Kenya's worst political crisis since independence in 1963. Four months of violence killed as many as 1,500 people and forced more than 300,000 to flee their homes.
`Political Interests'
Odinga formed a national unity government with President Mwai Kibaki, whom he had accused of rigging the December election. His delegation for the U.S. visit includes members of the Cabinet from both of their political parties.
The two sides are working together successfully so far, Odinga said, comparing the alliance to that of African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and President F.W. DeKlerk in South Africa in the 1990s.
``It is not an issue of a love affair here,'' Odinga said. ``It is a question of political interests, and we believe we can work together.''
The two are embarking on what is designed to be a 22-year program of economic, social and political reform called Vision 2030. The project will require streamlining government, tackling corruption and upgrading infrastructure and social services to ease hardships and inequalities that fed the election-related violence, Odinga said.
Money Laundering
Legislation to fight money laundering is about to be brought before parliament, he said, and the country is organizing a series of investor conferences starting with one in September in the capital Nairobi.
``It is a daunting agenda, but I am optimistic of our success,'' he said. ``The people of Kenya have demonstrated their determination to pursue what is right for their country through democratic means and through holding their leaders to account.''
A truth and reconciliation commission will be among several approaches to ease the scars left over from the election violence, which largely pitted members of Kibaki's Kikuyu majority ethnic group against those of the Kalenjin and Odinga's Luo community.
``We need to establish a process for people to own up and forgive each other,'' Odinga said. ``Otherwise, society will not be able to move on.''
African Union
The African Union also must take stronger action to press for accountability among officials on the continent and depend less on the rest of the world for leadership, Odinga said.
``Gone should be the days when African leaders used to misrule their people and the rest of Africa was quiet in the guise of non-interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,'' he said.
Odinga meets tomorrow with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whom he praised along with Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer for their help in resolving the Kenyan election crisis.
He also is seeking meetings with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.
Kenyans are enthusiastic about Obama because he had a Kenyan father and also ``because of what represents, what he stands for,'' Odinga said in response to a question. ``He is talking the language of change, and they hope this change will translate into something more positive as far as American policy towards Africa is concerned.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a2_9kZOfq63U&refer=africa
By Viola Gienger
June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga called on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down and said other governments should echo the demand and send peacekeeping troops to organize ``free and fair'' elections.
Odinga, who helped form a coalition government in Kenya earlier this year to end post-election violence, suggested Mugabe shouldn't escape responsibility for his abuses. South African President Thabo Mbeki should speak more strongly ``against impunity in Zimbabwe,'' Odinga said.
``Zimbabwe is an eye-sore, an embarrassment to the African continent,'' Odinga told an audience in Washington today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ``It is sad that many African heads of state are quiet when the disaster'' is looming in Zimbabwe.
It was at least the second time this month that Odinga called Mugabe to task in an international forum. Odinga broke with African leaders earlier this month at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, to describe Mugabe as an ``embarrassment'' as Zimbabwe nears a second round of voting to elect a president on June 27.
``The question is do we have conditions for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe at the moment?'' Odinga told reporters after the CSIS event. ``The answer is no, we don't.''
Odinga took the newly re-established prime minister's post in April under an agreement reached to end Kenya's worst political crisis since independence in 1963. Four months of violence killed as many as 1,500 people and forced more than 300,000 to flee their homes.
`Political Interests'
Odinga formed a national unity government with President Mwai Kibaki, whom he had accused of rigging the December election. His delegation for the U.S. visit includes members of the Cabinet from both of their political parties.
The two sides are working together successfully so far, Odinga said, comparing the alliance to that of African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and President F.W. DeKlerk in South Africa in the 1990s.
``It is not an issue of a love affair here,'' Odinga said. ``It is a question of political interests, and we believe we can work together.''
The two are embarking on what is designed to be a 22-year program of economic, social and political reform called Vision 2030. The project will require streamlining government, tackling corruption and upgrading infrastructure and social services to ease hardships and inequalities that fed the election-related violence, Odinga said.
Money Laundering
Legislation to fight money laundering is about to be brought before parliament, he said, and the country is organizing a series of investor conferences starting with one in September in the capital Nairobi.
``It is a daunting agenda, but I am optimistic of our success,'' he said. ``The people of Kenya have demonstrated their determination to pursue what is right for their country through democratic means and through holding their leaders to account.''
A truth and reconciliation commission will be among several approaches to ease the scars left over from the election violence, which largely pitted members of Kibaki's Kikuyu majority ethnic group against those of the Kalenjin and Odinga's Luo community.
``We need to establish a process for people to own up and forgive each other,'' Odinga said. ``Otherwise, society will not be able to move on.''
African Union
The African Union also must take stronger action to press for accountability among officials on the continent and depend less on the rest of the world for leadership, Odinga said.
``Gone should be the days when African leaders used to misrule their people and the rest of Africa was quiet in the guise of non-interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,'' he said.
Odinga meets tomorrow with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whom he praised along with Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer for their help in resolving the Kenyan election crisis.
He also is seeking meetings with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.
Kenyans are enthusiastic about Obama because he had a Kenyan father and also ``because of what represents, what he stands for,'' Odinga said in response to a question. ``He is talking the language of change, and they hope this change will translate into something more positive as far as American policy towards Africa is concerned.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a2_9kZOfq63U&refer=africa
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