Political inclusion crucial for sustainable peace-experts

African states can no longer fend off terrorism and security threats in isolation, hence the need to take inclusive yet collaborative approach, security experts have said. They were speaking at the First Intellectual Forum, an event held at the High Academy for Strategic and Security Studies in Khartoum, Sudan, yesterday. The meeting was a curtain raiser for a two-day 14th ordinary session of Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA), which opens today. Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian president and retired army general, said there is a need for every stakeholder to play their part for Africa, a continent endowed with enormous resources, to convert its blessings into vivid socio-economic gains. “Political stability and security are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have security where there is political instability when there is insecurity. And you can’t have political stability when you don’t have security. Political stability shouldn’t be left for politicians and security shouldn’t be left for security practitioners alone. Every stakeholder has a role to play for Africa to be peaceful,” Obasanjo said. The First Vice-President and Prime Minister of Sudan, Bakri Hassan Saleh, said with peace and stability, Africa can “take-off” to the much sought-after economic growth. “Peace is the best gift we can give to our beautiful continent of Africa. With peace we can surely take off to the future we want. Peace, coupled with the resources in Africa, will certainly help us realise our dreams,” Bakri said. He underlined several causes of conflict and dispute that have led to instability on the continent such as relative decrease in popular awareness of values of tolerance and reconciliation; many political elites that have used weapons as a shortcut to socio- economic and political aspirations and widespread radicalism. He said in an era where organised crime and terrorism have shaped the political course, Africans must stop seeing each other in tribal mirrors but rather as a people working toward a common goal of transforming the continent. “We need to find the common identity as Africans,” Bakri said. Jean Paul Kimonyo, the presidential advisor on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), told The New Times that homegrown approach in addressing political gaps will go a long way in ensuring sustainable peace. “Since 2005, we have seen more uprisings than what we saw in the 1960s and 80s. Clearly, something is happening and it shows that the economic stride Africa had made over years was not equally shared, plus there is a youth unemployment threat,” Kimonyo said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Political inclusion crucial for sustainable peace-experts