There should be concern about the crisis in Zimbabwe, Ghana’s President and current chairperson of the African Union, John Agyekum Kufuor, said on Tuesday.
He was speaking shortly after arriving at the Union Buildings in Pretoria where the Zimbabwean issue was high on the agenda of talks between himself and President Thabo Mbeki.
”When the leader of the opposition gets beaten up, for good or ill, naturally all concerned should be worried,” Kufuor said.
He said he was planning to learn from Mbeki what the situation in Zimbabwe was like.
”He lives next door, and I want to learn from him before I shoot my mouth [off],” Kufuor said.
Mbeki has been appointed by the Southern African Development Community as facilitator to resolve the political tension in Zimbabwe.
The two leaders were scheduled to hold talks for just over an hour.
It is not the first time that Kufuor has made statements about Zimbabwe. During a visit to Britain in March he urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to allow the rule of law to prevail and move away from the use of violence and intimidation against the opposition.
He repeated this on Tuesday, saying all should abide by the rule of law. — Sapa