POLITICS: Conflict Resolution Remains the Biggest Challenge for Africa

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anthony Stoppard

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 20 2002 (IPS) - Conflict resolution remains the biggest challenge for Africa, says South African President and African Union (AU) chairperson, Thabo Mbeki.

He was speaking after accepting the credentials of five new ambassadors to South Africa this week. The ambassadors came from Burundi, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Cyprus and the Republic of Korea.

Mbeki insisted that Africans would not rest until their continent’s many problems have been resolved.

He pointed out that – what should be the last round of talks – between the warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is progressing well. Representatives of the government and rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are meeting in South Africa to hammer out a power-sharing agreement that will pave the way to an end to one of Africa’s most complicated conflicts. The talks, which began this week, are scheduled to run for three days.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has virtually collapsed as a state – as the government, rebel groups and local warlords fight for control of the country’s natural wealth.

‘’There have been many developments with regards to the inter-Congolese dialogue, but we have passed most obstacles. The negotiations are progressing well. We, the DRC officials as well as the militant groups are pressing ahead in an effort to finalise an agreement that will benefit all parties,” Mbeki said.

Although Mbeki’s optimism may be well-founded, the DRC talks have persistently dragged out longer than they should as government and the rebel groups wrangle to secure as much power as possible.

But, if South Africa’s efforts to bring peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo are paying-off, its efforts in Burundi seem to have become bogged-down with one of the main rebel groups in that conflict refusing to attend the latest round of talks.

While the National Council for the Defence of Democracy/Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) has at least been talking to the Burundi transitional government about a cease-fire, the other major rebel movement, the Palipehutu Forces for National Liberation (Palipehutu-FNL), has withdrawn from all talks.

The Burundi transitional administration was created during an earlier round of peace-talks and is meant to run the country until a proper government can be elected. However, the CNDD-FDD and the Palipehutu-FNL refused to join the transitional government.

Both rebel groups were expected to attend a round of talks with the Burundi transitional government, in Tanzania, this week. However, the talks were postponed after the rebels failed to turn-up for the talks.

The new Burundian ambassador to South Africa, Patricie Rwimo, said: ‘’One of the principal tasks of the transitional government is the implementation of the peace accord. Unfortunately, this task is made difficult by many challenges that are still to be overcome. This includes the challenge of the continued war and the rampant poverty that is striking our people.”

Rwimo represents the transitional government.

According to media reports, the FNL has said it will not attend talks with the government as long as Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, chairs the Regional Peace Initiative.

The rebels accused Museveni of being biased toward the government. The FNL also accused South Africa of supplying the Burundian government with arms.

South African Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, is the talk’s chief mediator.

South Africa has deployed troops in Burundi to protect members of the transitional government. The FDD reportedly claimed that they had not been invited to the talks.

The roots of the Burundi civil war lie, mainly, in the conflict between the country’s two main ethnic groups, the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi. The Tutsis have controlled the government and army, since the nation’s independence in 1962. Hutu rebels have fought to overthrow the government for most of the past nine years.

Mbeki says that former South African president, Nelson Mandela, has been asking international donors for aid to rebuild the economic infrastructure of Burundi, once the conflict ends. Mandela used to serve as a peace facilitator in the Burundi talks.

Also this week, the United Nations appealed for 69.7 million U.S. dollars to assist Burundi in 2003. The funds will be used for humanitarian and development assistance.

In the meantime, a wrangle has broken out between the South Africa and Canada over support from the Group of Eight (G-8) wealthy nations for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

G-8 comprises Japan, Germany, the United States, Britain, Canada, Italy, France and Russia.

NEPAD was originally supposed to have a ‘’peer review mechanism” – through which African countries would commit themselves to good economic and political governance. It now seems that the continent’s leaders – and Mbeki – want the African Union to be responsible for the peer review mechanism. However, Canada is insisting that G-8 support for NEPAD is dependent on it incorporating a peer review mechanism.

The differences emerged while Canadian Trade Minister, Pierre Pettigrew, was in South Africa on a trade mission, this week. South African officials are playing down the seriousness of the differences and say they expect them to be ironed out shortly.