Kigali — Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Regional Corporation from country members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) are meeting today in Kampala. They will assess, among other issues, the region's ability to monitor elections.

ICGLR comprises Rwanda, Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

"The ICGLR monitors elections in the region, and the team that observed elections in Sudan, will present a report to the ministers. We are looking into the best ways election observation missions should be carried out in the region." Joseph Kabakeza, Rwanda's Acting National Coordinator of the ICLGR, told The New Times from Kampala.

Opening the national coordinators' session on Sunday, ICGLR Executive Secretary, Liberata Mulamula, urged member states to hold free and fair elections to avoid violence.

Rwanda, Burundi, the CAR and Tanzania hold their presidential elections later this year while Uganda will hold general elections early next year.

"Our main challenge is to make sure that these forthcoming elections are conducted in a peaceful and free atmosphere," Mulamula said.