Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka has launched a new attack on Africa's political leaders, this time singling out heads of state who retain their grip on power by entering into coalition or unity governments.
Speaking as an invited guest at the Julius Nyerere Intellectual Festival Week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Soyinka described the unity governments in Kenya and Zimbabwe as illegitimate.
"We cannot entertain solidarity with African leaders who undermine the rule of law and good governance as it happened in Kenya and Zimbabwe;
but rather, we should tell Mugabe and Kibaki that they are not legitimate leaders," he said, according to a report in The Citizen, a Tanzanian daily.
He also challenged African leaders for failing to engage in self-criticism: "There is no defence for an inefficient government and we should not wait for the powers from Europe to come and say so..."
He called for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to face the International Criminal Court to defend the war crimes with which he is charged in Darfur, The Citizen reports.
Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel literature laureate, has been outspoken on political issues in the past, from military rule in Nigeria to the role of religion, the review of the country's constitution and the current Nigerian government.
