Kofi Annan urges the AU to step up efforts to end Zimbabwean crisis

By Alex Bell
16 June 2008

Former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan has called on the African Union to step up its efforts to resolve the political, humanitarian and economic crises in Zimbabwe.

He was speaking in his capacity as Chair of the Africa Progress Panel in London on Monday and said “greater and more consistent efforts,” as well as leadership by individual African governments and the international community as a whole are crucial to put a stop to ongoing atrocities ahead of the election run-off on June 27th.

Annan strongly criticised the vicious clamp-down on aid agencies working in the country and said it is vitally important that the government “should not stand in the way of aid getting to the people.”

He echoed global leaders, including US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, by calling for free and fair elections, and said that attempts to intimidate and prevent the opposition from holding rallies need to be stopped to achieve this end.

He warned: “Anyone who tries to come into power through fraudulent elections will have a price to pay. I think the people of Zimbabwe will not accept it and the international community will not accept him either.”

Annan is one of forty prominent leaders and influential celebrities to put their name to an open letter issued last week to put pressure on Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF to end their brutal campaign against the opposition and innocent civilians.

He said in London on Monday that he hopes the letter will encourage Zimbabweans and regional leaders “to step in and press for the right action to be taken by the government.”

The former UN head added that the focus will need to shift to what happens beyond the elections, and said it is important for the future of the country for Zimbabweans to come together and reconcile under a new leader.

He said: “The nation needs to be healed, it needs to be reconciled and they need to come together for the future of their country and to rebuild.”