Wilson Johwa
11 February 2008
Johannesburg — SAFETY and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has another year to facilitate a comprehensive settlement in Burundi, where efforts to reach agreement between the government and the remaining political groups are under way.
SA's mandate as the facilitating country in the Burundi peace process was renewed this month by the regional structure co-chaired by Ugandan and Tanzanian presidents Yoweri Museveni and Jakaya Kikwete.
Burundi has a history of coups, dictatorships and mass killings, pitting the majority Hutu against the Tutsi minority, who dominate the armed forces. Efforts to end the conflict have continued under various facilitators from former Tanzanian head of state Julius Nyerere, former president Nelson Mandela and former deputy president Jacob Zuma. The latest cease-fire agreement was signed with most of the warring groups in 2006, bringing an end to major hostilities. The agreement led to the United Nations (UN) ending its peacekeeping operations under which 5600 personnel had been deployed since 2004. Several hundred remained to work with the African Union (AU) in monitoring the cease-fire.
Among the AU force was the 750-strong South African military contingent. "We had to make them the AU force," SA's special envoy to the Great Lakes region Kingsley Mamabolo said.
The thrust of Nqakula's facilitation in Burundi was seeking to ensure that representatives of the Palipehutu-FNL (FNL) return to the cease-fire's joint verification monitoring initiative by the end of this month. In addition, he had to get the FNL leadership to return to Bujumbura from exile by the end of next month.
The plan for the first six months was to focus on implementation and finalisation of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process, together with commencement of security sector reform.
In the second six months the plan is to focus on post-conflict reconstruction.
Mamabolo said it was important for the parties to reach agreement as newer conflicts in the region, such as in Chad, were diverting attention from Burundi while donors and investors were keeping away, hoping for lasting peace.
"I think the strong message we are sending to both FNL and the government is that time is not on their side. The world is getting tired," said Mamabolo.
It was agreed that issues outside the joint verification and monitoring mechanism would be dealt with by the political directorate, to be established by Nqakula. Mamabolo will chair the directorate which will also include UN and AU representatives in Burundi, and SA's and Tanzania' s ambassadors.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
