Tanzania’s president, Jakaya Kikwete, has become the first African president to raise the issue of military intervention in Zimbabwe if the government crackdown on the Movement for Democratic Change(MDC) worsens.

“We will certainly consider it (Miltary intervetion)if asked,” said Kikwete “If we get there, to a point where military action is needed, if it’s a multilateral project, then we’ll do it. At the moment we do not think that will be necessary’

Tanzanian People’s Defense Force is made up of close to 30 000.The manpower available for military service is a combined 14 387 010 two times Zimbabwe ’s manpower available for military service which stands at 5 464 100.

This comes as the U.N. Security Council issued a unanimous statement on Monday that a free and fair presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe was impossible because of violence and restrictions on the opposition.

The adoption of the non-binding statement by the Security Council, which comprises China France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, United States,Belgium,Indonesia,South Africa,
Burkina Faso,Italy,Viet Nam,Costa Rica,Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,Croatia and Panama was its first formal action on the crisis in the southern African country.

Before the 15-nation Security Council adopted the statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “There has been too much violence and too much intimidation. A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy.”