Regional body applauds Rwanda’s peace efforts

The Executive Director of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Liberata Mulamula has commended Rwanda’s efforts in trying to find lasting solutions to the Great Lakes Region’s conflicts. She was speaking at the just ended Amani Forum Parliamentary Conference which sought to find answers to ethnocentrism in the region. Ambassador Liberata Mulamula applauded the commitment shown by the government of Rwanda towards resolving conflicts, especially in the Eastern part of the DR Congo. “Renewed fighting in the DRC is the strongest challenge facing us at the moment but I thank the Governments of Rwanda and DRC for their commitment to work together and resolve this conflict once and for all,” said Mulamula. Mulamula commended Amani Parlimantary Forum, Rwanda Chapter for its contribution in the search for peace especially by combating ethnocentrism, which has wrecked havoc in most of the ICGLR Member countries. Some of the conflicts in the region cited by Mulamula which have roots in ethnic discrimination culminated in the 1994 Tutsi Genocide, in Rwanda. “No ethnic group is superior to another. We are all equal as humans and the question of race and ethnicity should not arise,” added Mulamula while explaining that it was unfortunate that issues of ethnicity still exist in African society. Mulamula expressed hope that the current regional leadership was committed to creating peace through efforts such as the Nairobi and Goma agreements. She said the recent Tripartite summit held in Kampala presents a ray of hope in fostering peace in COMESA/EAC/SADC countries. Mulamula added that it was high time countries in the Great Lakes Region moved away from tribal and ethnic paradigms which promote crimes against humanity like murder, rape and discrimination based on colour or body features. She decried the humanitarian situation in DRC which has led to the creation of new Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s), and the failure by Uganda’s Lords Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony to sign a peace deal that could bring an end to the 21-year rebellion in Northern Uganda. She commended the now concluded talks in Goma between the Governments of Rwanda and DRC to disarm and repatriate negative forces (FDLR) in Eastern D R Congo, saying that it is a positive step towards resolving the conflict in that eastern part of the country. Ends