6 July 2009
editorial
Nairobi — The verdict of Washington-based fund for Peace on East African states, with the majority being ranked as sliding into anarchy, is worrying.
Even the neighbours of the five member-states of the East African Community are not at peace, signalling danger for the region.
Kenya, Uganda and Burundi are in the same category under red alert, meaning that they may slide into failed states if precautionary measures are not taken.
Kenya scored poorly in two indicators of Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies, the same as for Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.
In aggregate, Kenya performed poorest among the East African Community member states, with 101.4 points at position 14, while Uganda scored 96.9 points to take position 21, Burundi took position 24 with 95.7 points.
Position one was taken by Somalia with an aggregate 114.7 points. The more the points scored by a country, the less stable it is.
Other neighbouring states that fell in the red hot category are Ethiopia and Sudan.
For Uganda, the report says that the country faces a number of challenges, particularly poverty reduction and resolving the Lord's Resistance Army rebellion led by Joseph Kony in the north.
Burundi's ranking is based on ethnic tensions, which have been expressed through violent conflict on and off for the past four decades, that seem not to have an everlasting solution.
Tanzania is performing fairly well economically and the 2005 elections were encouraging in terms of its progress toward multiparty democracy.
There is still significant room for improvement in poverty reduction, public service and human rights, but on the whole Tanzania is fairly stable and with good prospects for the future, the report says.
Rwanda has made considerable progress since the 1994 genocide.
Economic growth has been restored, and the country remains relatively stable.
The issues raised are not difficult to tackle in order for the poor performers to come out of the classification that they have earned.
Unless there is equity in resource distribution in any country, there will be no peace.
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