Oscar Kimanuka
20 November 2007
column
Nairobi — The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda recently reached a deal in Nairobi - "a significant breakthrough" according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon - to forcibly disarm the extremist forces in eastern DRC in an effort to bring peace in the region.
The DRC went further to commit itself to hand over those suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide to the Rwandan authorities and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for trial.
This has been received well by the US Department of State, which calls on all parties to implement the provisions of the communiqué immediately.
Fine as this sounds for peace in our region, there are sceptics who don't see it that way.
Rwandan MPs have expressed doubts about the DRC's willingness to meet its part of the bargain saying it has previously reneged on a number of agreements.
HOWEVER, THE two countries have a lot to lose, from instability in eastern DRC.
Given what Rwanda has experienced in the past 13 years, it is clear that the dividends reaped from national unity and reconciliation for national development are enormous. DRC now also has an opportunity to transit from conflict to recovery - and what better way than to borrow a leaf from examples of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation in Rwanda?
IT IS argued that group solidarity is an important characteristic of the African continent's social dynamics and represents an important pillar on which national unity and reconciliation and future development can hinge. After all, it is in fragile societies that some of the most robust opportunities arise.
Such opportunities present themselves for innovative local solutions and for leaping forward into the global environment through rebuilding our nations into much stronger, self-reliant modern states prepared to claim their place in the sun and make meaningful contributions to international peace and development as equal partners with the developed world.
AND who knows, our countries could some day be givers of aid and not perpetual recipients of international development aid.
Oscar Kimanuka is a commentator on social and economic issues based in Kigali.
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