|
|
|
|
|
Volume 6, No. 24 2329 June 2006 |
|
|
|
THIS WEEK:
|
|
Advancing the African peace agenda As we go to press, our continent is still celebrating the success of the Ghana Black Stars who have qualified to take part in the second round of the FIFA Soccer World Cup. This achievement will surely inspire the peoples of Africa to strive for success in other fields as well. We also wish Tunisia success in their last first round match which will be played as we publish this edition of ANC Today. What the Ghana Black Stars have done shows that if we apply ourselves seriously to confront the challenges facing our continent, there is no reason why we should not succeed. This includes the central task facing our continent, the task of Africa's renewal. Over the last few days we had the possibility to interact with a number of processes on our continent focused on the continuing and important challenge of achieving peace in all countries of our continent. On 18 June, we participated in an important meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which opened the way finally to bring an end to the protracted civil war in Burundi. On this day the Government of Burundi and the armed group, Palipehutu-FNL, signed the "Dar es Salaam Agreement of Principles Towards Lasting Peace, Security and Stability in Burundi." The critical Article VI of this Agreement says "the Parties agree to stop hostilities and commit to engage in serious discussions aimed at reaching a comprehensive ceasefire within a period of two weeks." Once more we extend our congratulations to the Government of Burundi and the FNL for taking this major step to integrate within the Burundi democratic process the last armed group to end its armed struggle. We also congratulate and thank President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania for the enormous effort he put into the process of assisting the Burundi Parties to reach the important agreement to end the war. We also thank the current Facilitator of the Burundi Peace Process, our Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula. The Dar es Salaam Agreement also makes some important observations that are of great relevance not only to Burundi, but also others of our countries which continue to work to ensure durable peace and stable democracies. The Agreement says: "In the history of Burundi, the ethnic question has been recognised as being one of the mainsprings of the conflict that the country has endured for so long. It is therefore important to put an end to this state of affairs, to rewrite and take into consideration the history of the country. It has also proven important to put in place mechanisms to ensure the mistakes of the past are never repeated... "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission shall be called the Truth, Forgiveness and Reconciliation Commission. Its mission shall be to establish the facts regarding the dark periods in our history and to identify the responsibility of the different individuals with a view to forgiveness and reconciliation among the Barundi. It should reflect the broadest representation of Burundi society in its political, social, ethnic, religious and gender aspects." Like Burundi, Sudan, which we visited a few days ago, similarly faces the challenge of forgiveness and reconciliation as well as the task to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated. We were therefore pleased to find the Government of Sudan ready to implement the Darfur Peace Agreement concluded in Abuja, Nigeria with the Sudan Liberation Movement. Of importance in this regard is the fact that the rebel groups that did not sign the Darfur Peace Agreement have now signed a "Declaration of Commitment to the Darfur Peace Agreement", in which they say: "We shall be bound by the letter and spirit of the DPA and shall assume and implement the relevant obligations arising therefrom, especially those related to the Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement and the Arrangements agreed therein. "We commit ourselves to ensure that all the Organs, Committees and Structures under our control, including our members, shall comply with the provisions of the DPA." Also very encouraging is the progress that has been made to implement the complex Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the protracted war between the north and the south of Sudan. It is however true that there are still some key questions that have still to be resolved. These include the demarcation of boundaries and the sharing of oil revenues according to formulae contained in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Our country chairs the Sudan Post-conflict Reconstruction Committee of the AU. We will therefore work closely with President al-Bashir and First Vice President Salva Kiir to help finalise agreement on the outstanding issues. We also warmly welcome the steps that have been taken to end the conflict in Eastern Sudan. On 19 June, at a meeting held in Asmara, Eritrea, the Government of Sudan and the Eastern Front signed a "Declaration of Principles for the Resolution of the Conflict in Eastern Sudan" to achieve a "lasting peaceful settlement of the conflict in Eastern Sudan". We must also take this opportunity to thank President al-Bashir and the Government of Sudan for inviting the Interim Government of Somalia and the Union of Islamic Courts to Khartoum to facilitate the restoration of lasting peace in Somalia. We congratulate the Somali Government and the Islamic Courts for concluding a ceasefire, which President al-Bashir described as "the beginning of the end of conflicts in Somalia." We trust that the Somalis will take advantage of the important step on which they have agreed to pursue the peace agenda to its successful conclusion. We were also pleased to receive the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Charles Konan Banny, to review progress made with regard to the implementation of the various agreements intended to take this sister country to peace, unity and democracy. We are indeed very pleased with the initial steps that have been taken to begin the process of identification and registration of citizens and residents of Côte d'Ivoire and implement the programme for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration affecting the Government forces, the Forces Nouvelles and various militia groups. The country's Electoral Commission is also working to establish the infrastructure throughout the country that is needed to conduct the Presidential elections scheduled to take place at the end of October, as well as the subsequent legislative elections. We are confident that the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, the Forces Nouvelles, the UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire, ONUCI, will continue to work hard finally to end the conflict in that country, allowing for its reunification, the resolution of the national question and the holding of democratic elections. It is imperative that these outcomes should be achieved as soon as possible to enable the Côte d'Ivoire to attend to the challenge of development, which is also of vital interest to many other countries in West Africa. We cannot conclude this Letter without paying tribute to the Government, the political parties, the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, and the people of the DRC for the progress they are making towards holding elections at the end of July. Voting materials are already being distributed to various parts of the country, signalling the reality that there can be no turning back from the process of democratisation, to which the Congolese masses are committed. The foregoing indicates that our continent is indeed making steady progress towards achieving the critically important goals of peace and democracy. This progress, like to the success of the Ghana Black Stars, confirms that with the necessary will, we can bring the African masses the good tidings they need to give _expression_ to their hopes for the renaissance of Africa. In a recent letter to us, the recently elected President of the Union of the Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, said: "I wish to express to you the gratitude of the Comoran people for the significant and commendable role that AMISEC forces, composed mainly of South African men and women, played during the primary and national elections in the Comoros. "I would (also) like to express our deep gratitude for the commitment of your country to work...for the implementation of the results of the Donors' Conference held in the Republic of Mauritius last December, and to mobilise for the economic recovery and the reconstruction of our country... "Let me furthermore convey to you...my sincere congratulations for the immense contribution you are providing for the realisation of peace and security throughout the African continent." The only way properly to acknowledge the tribute paid to our country by President Sambi is indeed to continue to honour our internationalist obligations to the peoples of our continent. |
|
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list Ugandanet@kym.net http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
