Nairobi - US President George W Bush, during a visit to Tanzania on Sunday, called for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, saying the people of the ailing southern African country deserve a government that respects human rights. Bush was speaking after a meeting with his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete. Fair elections in Zimbawe, where much-criticized long-ruling President Robert Mugabe is standing for re-election in March, were also of global interest, he said.
Tanzania is the US president's second stop on his five-nation tour of Africa that kicked off in Benin in West Africa on Saturday.
Bush and Kikwete on Sunday signed a comprehensive 698-million- dollar agreement to combat poverty in the East African country. It aims to improve infrastructure, electrification and access to clean water within the framework of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Bush is to travel on to Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia during the visit, his second to Africa and one in which he will focus especially on the fight against poverty and diseases such as AIDS and malaria.
