Kenya calls for African Union to suspend Mugabe

By Tichaona Sibanda
30 June 2008

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday called for the suspension of Robert Mugabe from the African Union, until he allows a "free and fair" election. But reports from Egypt suggest African leaders discussing the Zimbabwe crisis favour a power-sharing deal, modelled on the one which ended the bloody post-election crisis in Kenya earlier this year.
Odinga told a press conference in Nairobi that ‘Mugabe should be suspended until he allows the AU to facilitate free and fair elections,’ adding that the AU will be setting a dangerous precedent if Mugabe is allowed to participate in it’s meetings. The African Union has a rule not to accept leaders who have not been democratically elected, but observers say it is unlikely the AU will immediately take strong action against Mugabe.
The AU summit is expected to issue a communique late on Monday, following a closed door session that has been going on since the morning. MDC spokesman George Sibotshiwe said they’ve proposed to the AU that a special envoy be sent to the country, to assist South African President Thabo Mbeki in his role as the SADC mediator for Zimbabwe.

They stated that the envoy should be based in Harare and must mediate between the MDC and Zanu-PF to create the kind of climate that would assist in curbing the violence in the country, as well as dealing with the humanitarian crisis. MDC regional officer Nqobizitha Mlilo said they’re prepared to take part in any talks that may help bring to an end the 10 year crisis.

‘Whatever happens, people should recognise the fact that the MDC now controls parliament and that no-one should want to undermine the other because of events after the 29th March elections,’ Mlilo said.

A draft communique that forms part of a working document for the Heads of State at the Summit, and seen by journalists in Sharm-el-Sheikh, does not include any direct criticism of Mugabe or of the run-off.

On Monday, South Africa denied widely featured reports that Mbeki had lobbied the AU to recognise Mugabe, saying this was a ‘complete fabrication’. Their foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma called for Zanu (PF) and the MDC to enter negotiations for a transitional government to unite the country

Most South African papers reported on Sunday that Mbeki wanted AU leaders, currently attending a summit in Egypt, to recognise Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe after the one-man presidential run-off election on Friday.

Mugabe’s decision to go ahead with the election after Tsvangirai’s withdrawal due to the extreme state sponsored violence, provoked unprecedented African criticism.

All observer groups that monitored the election have released reports indicating the vote was undermined by the violence and did not reflect the will of the people.

Previous mediation efforts led by Mbeki have consistently failed to solve the crisis. The SADC mediated efforts have taken almost a year but nothing tangible has been done to get Mugabe and Tsvangirai to talk. SADC mandated Mbeki to mediate in between the MDC and Zanu-PF following a government crackdown on the MDC, which resulted in Tsvangirai getting badly injured after state security agents beat him up.

But the mediation has failed to come up with any solutions due to Mbeki’s closeness to Mugabe and that he has personally blocked several United Nations resolutions to act against the 84 year-old leader.