Africa News Summary : News Headlines : Discussion Forums

ACCRA - Ghana broke its silence on Zimbabwe's political crisis on Monday, openly criticising its long standing ally President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe, who sheltered in Ghana before seizing power in Zimbabwe and married a Ghanaian, has come under growing criticism from abroad over his backing for violent seizures of white-owned land and over his human rights record.

Ghana has until now refrained from commenting on the crisis but Foreign Minister Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, in an interview with Reuters, accused Mugabe's government of passing "oppressive laws".

"The attempt being made by Mr Mugabe to suppress the legitimate aspirations of the opposition, muzzle the press, and refuse to recognise international observers could undermine the credibility of the elections due in March," Owusu-Agyeman said.

Mugabe, whose government wants to bar foreign journalists, faces the hardest test of his 22-year rule in a March presidential poll against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

"The elections must be conducted on the basis of universally accepted democratic principles," Owusu-Agyeman said, adding that Ghana had a duty to speak out as a fellow Commonwealth member.

Ghana backed Zimbabwe's struggle for black majority rule led by Mugabe, who lived in Ghana for much of the 1960s and once worked as a teacher in the Ghanaian port town of Takoradi.

Diplomats said Owusu-Agyeman's remarks indicated growing resistance within Africa to Mugabe's methods.

Much previous criticism has come from Western countries but some African leaders have joined a chorus of disapproval as Zimbabwe's instability undermines economies across the region.

South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday instability in Zimbabwe had gone on "for far too long".

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, visiting Zimbabwe a day after police and supporters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party clashed with opponents, said a deal he brokered last year to stop land grabs by self-styled veterans of Mugabe's black power struggle risked collapse.

Owusu-Agyeman said Ghana backed fair redistribution of land in Zimbabwe, but said "it should be done according to the due process of law so that it does not unduly threaten the economic stability of the entire region".

A declaration by Zimbabwe's army that it would not recognise the presidency of anyone who did not fight in the liberation war was "unfortunate", he added.

"The power to make or remove a government lies with the people," he said. "Once their will is expressed in a free and fair election, it ought to be respected by everyone, the armed forces included." Nampa-Reuters

•  Big Brother Africa 3: Battle of the bores!