Odinga says Mugabe needs peaceful exit to end crisis
By Alex Bell
23 July 2008

Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga said on Wednesday that Robert Mugabe may need to be allowed a “peaceful, decent exit” to resolve Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

Odinga, who leads his country with political rival President Mwai Kibaki as part of a government of national unity, made the comments after talks with his British counterpart Gordon Brown in London on Wednesday.

The Kenyan Prime Minister welcomed the negotiations involving Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC, set to take place in South Africa this week, but he added this was only under the condition that the talks respect the result of the March election polls. He said that “there may be a need to find a peaceful, decent exit for Mugabe,” and this exit would mean Mugabe “is given a role to play for an interim period of time.” He added, in that time Mugabe “can stay on as a ceremonial president with an executive Prime Minister until elections are held in Zimbabwe.”

The British Prime Minister meanwhile called on those taking part in the negotiations to remember the importance of a legitimate government in Zimbabwe, and said Mugabe should accept that he did not win last month’s one man “sham poll” fairly. He said, “Zimbabwe cannot have the respect of the international community as long as it does not have a legitimate government that can command the support of the Zimbabwean people.”

Brown and Odinga have been two of the world’s loudest critics of Mugabe’s efforts to remain in power. Odinga was one of the first African leaders to speak out against the aging dictator, calling him an “embarrassment to the African continent.” At the same time Brown labeled Mugabe’s regime a “criminal cabal,” and has been the strongest supporter of targeted sanctions to put an end to the Zimbabwean crisis.