Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has warned that Zanu PF's continued intransigence on power-sharing could result in civil unrest as the population may lose confidence in a peaceful settlement of the country's political and economic crises.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Standard, Odinga said he feared Zimbabwe was following the route of Somalia, which has been running without a government for 17 years following an outbreak of civil war.

"I fear that a continued deadlock for a much longer period will see Zimbabwe slide downwards and become one of those failed states such as Somalia," he said. "My fear is that as the population becomes more despondent in the face of failed political solutions and increasing hardships, the people may become restless and insecurity will increase.

"This may result in armed resistance as the current delays are a recipe for disaster."

In comparing Zimbabwe to Somalia, Odinga said the Somalis had long lost faith in politicians because of continued bickering.

He said as a result many were now taking the law into their own hands.

Odinga said he did not think the power-sharing talks that resumed in South Africa last week between the two factions of the MDC and Zanu PF would yield a positive outcome.

"I don't think an agreement will be reached because I don't see (President Robert) Mugabe agreeing to a genuine power-sharing deal, which would resolve the stalemate," he said. "If Mugabe wants the military, then common sense should dictate that the police should go to (Morgan) Tsvangirai who in any case won the first relatively free and fair election in March."

Odinga is one of few African leaders alongside President Ian Khama of Botswana and the late Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa who dared to publicly criticise the veteran former guerrilla leader.

Other African leaders, especially in Southern Africa, are believed to be afraid of Mugabe because of his liberation war credentials. Odinga said: "My view of the ongoing talks is that the solution to the

problems facing Zimbabwe can be found if Mugabe agrees to genuinely share power equally with Tsvangirai.

"After all, he has enjoyed absolute power for more than 28 years.

"His peers like (Julius) Nyerere, (Kenneth) Kaunda and even those who came after him like (Nelson) Mandela, (Thabo) Mbeki and (Joaquim) Chissano have left."

Odinga said he had spoken out on the situation in Zimbabwe because the country's slide into chaos "annoyed" him.

"The Zimbabwean issue is particularly annoying to me which makes people say I am overly critical of Zimbabwe. When I speak out about Zimbabwe, I will be wearing my Pan-African hat.

"We should not allow some African dinosaurs in the mould of Mobutu, Idi Amin and Kamuzu Banda to get away with murder by clinging to power despite the fact that they would have lost elections."

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader who was the presumed winner of Kenya's controversial presidential elections before President Mwai Kibaki upstaged him last year said Zanu PF had shown that it was not sincere about the negotiations by refusing to give Tsvangirai a passport.

Odinga scoffed at claims that the MDC, which has been allocated former departments of old ministries as "new ministries", had received a better deal than he did.

"It is certainly not true to say that Tsvangirai received a better deal than ourselves because here we have genuine power-sharing where ministries, diplomatic personnel and senior public officials were shared under our February deal."

He said he was saddened by the growing trend in which incumbent African leaders believed to have lost elections cling on to power so that they can negotiate their continued stay in office.

"This trend which started in Kenya and moved to Zimbabwe is an affront to African democracy," he said. "That is unacceptable, it should not happen again. It affects our democratisation process. I urge the people of Zimbabwe to remain steadfast and not to despair in the face of hardships as the process of change demands sacrifice."

The son of one of Kenya's well-known politicians Oginga Odinga, he believes African leaders have not done enough to nudge the political opponents towards a solution to the Zimbabwean question.

"It is irresponsible for some of our African leaders not to talk straight

about problems in Zimbabwe. They are letting down the African people, particularly on the Zimbabwean crisis."

Odinga said former South African president Thabo Mbeki had let Zimbabweans down.

"Thabo Mbeki did not provide the necessary leadership and direction and that is why the talks have degenerated to where they are now. I urge the new South African leadership to stand firm and give direction to Sadc on Zimbabwe."