Member states of the Great Lakes region and all stakeholders should not relent in their vigil despite the relative tranquility which the region is experiencing because the situation is still fragile and fluid.

Executive secretary for the international conference on the Great Lakes region Liberata Malamula said there was now relative peace in the region, which had not been seen for many years following interventions by leaders of the region in the various conflicts.

She said the situation for the region had significantly improved in the last one year but that challenges still remained.

Ms Malamula pointed out that following the intercession by the group of eminent persons in the various conflict zones last year who were tasked to broker a ceasefire and bring the conflicting sides together, rebellions had stopped while most of the rebel groups involved in the conflict had been fully integrated.

Speaking when she called on Zambia's special envoy to the Great Lakes region, Siteke Mwale in Lusaka yesterday, Ms Malamula said the momentum of peace needed to be sustained to ensure that the gains that have been achieved for the region are not reversed.

"In order to sustain the gains that have been made the region needs to follow up on all the issues on the ground, instill preventive measures to ensure that the situation does not lapse and see to it that all the agreements signed are adhered to and followed," she said.

Answering a question on why African countries still experienced community strife based on ethnic differences when the level of enlightenment and education, which should suppress tribalism, had improved so much in the last three decades, Ms Malamula said there were many factors to the situation.

She said it was sad that internecine conflicts between communities were still manifesting on the continent and feeding into conflict and strife but added that the root causes for such occurrences were well known and sometimes were not of Africa's own making.