Thursday, December 4, 2008 - 17:00
AFP News Briefs ListMugabe must go: Kenyan PM
African governments must work to oust Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe because a power-sharing deal in the poverty-stricken country is dead, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told the BBC Thursday.
Odinga's comments came after he held talks with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Nairobi, and amid a cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe that has killed more than 560 people and pushed Harare to plead for international help.
"It's time for African governments to take decisive action to push him out of power," Odinga told the British broadcaster, according to quotes published on its website.
"Power-sharing is dead in Zimbabwe and will not work with a dictator who does not really believe in power-sharing."
Odinga added that if Zimbabwe were isolated from its African neighbours, particularly South Africa, Mugabe would not be able to hold on to power.
"I do believe strongly that if the leadership in South Africa took a firm stand and told Mugabe to quit he will have no choice but to do so," he said.
He added that he was confident Jacob Zuma, the chief of the South African ruling party, would have "no hesitation in taking that step".
Cholera is the latest challenge to hit poverty-wracked Zimbabwe as it struggles with a political crisis and hyperinflation estimated at 231 million percent in July.
