Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Great Lakes regional leaders were in Pretoria, South Africa for two major summits on Monday and Tuesday last week.
Tanzanian forces of the UN Intervention Brigade attend a training session outside Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The first one held on Monday was a joint SADC – International Conference for Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Heads of State summit on peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The second summit was about establishment of a mechanism for a swift and immediate response to crises. South African President, Jacob Zuma chaired the two summits.
The summit on Congo was held on the backdrop of a dramatic turnaround of events where the M23 rebels that had taken over Goma, the regional capital of North Kivu about a year ago, were routed by the Congolese army until they surrendered, laid down arms and declared to end their 20-month insurgency in the mineral rich but impoverished eastern region of DRC.
The DRC government was expected to sign a peace deal with the M23 rebel group in Kampala, Uganda yesterday in what analysts have described as an important milestone in the efforts to restore peace and stability in the central African country. The other summit held the following day was about the formation of a rapid-deployment emergency force to swiftly intervene in crises on the continent.
This is a temporary arrangement pending the coming into operation of the long planned fullyfledged peacekeeping African Union’s African Standby Force. One important signal from the two summits is that Africa is becoming more responsible for its problems.
The leaders in Africa are becoming more proactive in dealing with challenges affecting their countries. It is about homegrown solutions to problems in Africa (and not exactly African solutions to African problems as there is nothing purely African to wars, famine, corruption, etc).
It is a deviation from the experience of the past where Africa sat hapless waiting for a rescue from Europe or America whenever it encountered a crisis. The Mali experience was a painful lesson to Africa. France led a military campaign in January to clear Islamist militants from the north of the country after they threatened to invade the capital Bamako.
In an op-ed to the New York Times, Sammy Kum Buo, a Cameroon national, who was director for West, Central and North Africa in the U.N. Department of Political Affairs in New York from 2007 to 2012 said the Mali experience was a lesson on how risky it can be for Africa to wait for an assistance from outside the continent in times of crises.
“The French military intervention in Mali, this year had not only saved the defenceless West African nation from almost certain complete occupation by marauding rebel forces, it had also rekindled a debate on the risks and costs of Africa’s dependence on international charity for survival.”
The South African leader clearly shared the concerns. In his opening remarks of the Tuesday summit, he said Africa needed to build own capability that would obviate the need to call for assistance from foreign countries. He cited the example of the crisis in Mali where Africa was hapless and had to seek assistance from France.
“The case of Mali is still fresh in our minds. We need to ensure that we are not helpless or slow to respond without the help of external partners,” he said. Africa becoming more responsible and proactive in dealing with her own challenges could also be testified with the military victory of Congolese army over the M23 rebel group leading to a renewed hope for peace and stability in the eastern Congo.
About a year ago, the M23 rebels took over the provisional capital of Goma with civilians and aid workers fleeing. The United Nations peacekeeping force remained humiliated as it watched the rebels charging to the city they were protecting. As the world watched in horror for another protracted war in the eastern Congo, Africa reacted.
A new unit of UN peacekeepers was created and was given the authority and equipment to take offensive action. The UN intervention brigade made up of South African and Tanzanian troops supported the Congolese army to carry out a serious military assault that forced the rebels to their knees.
Africa has shown what can be accomplished when it stands up collectively to tackle her problems head on. It is a case of homegrown solution for our challenges simply because solutions to our woes lie within ourselves.
By HENRY LYIMO, Tanzania Daily News
