ACSS, RCSS hold Rwandan symposium

• Value of “security” partnerships stressed The Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS) and Rwanda Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) yesterday stressed the importance of partnerships in security matters in a joint seminar at a local hotel in Kigali. This exclusively Rwandan one-day event targeted the RCSS. It follows last week’s five-day ACSS regional seminar, at the same venue, which was aimed at discussing ways of enhancing the management of security resources. “More recently, think about Umoja Wetu,with Congo; that was nothing other than working together to make security more cost effective and allowing development to take the lead,” the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Defence, Amb. Dr. Zac Nsenga, said while opening the seminar. Operation “Umoja Wetu,” (Swahili for “our unity) was the code name for the January-February joint Rwanda-DR Congo military operations against the FDLR rebels in the latter’s volatile east. The meeting took place between ACSS staff and “managers of the security sector,” as Ambassador Nsenga put it while thanking the event organizers for making sure that “this young, nascent chapter (RCSS) here in Rwanda, stands up.” US Ambassador Stuart Symington also underlined the importance of partnership. “If I were the Dean of the ACSS, and I were looking for a single indication of whether last week’s work was a success, I would walk in this room, this morning and I would smile because the goal of such a seminar is to spark new activity around Africa, by you, and you have done it,” Symington said. “The proof of partnership is the successful progress of people and I am absolutely confident, not just as a servant of the United States and a friend of Rwanda, but as your partner, that your efforts with your neighbours, together, will result in the progress of the people, first of this part of the world, and then of the world as a whole.” Professor and Chair of Defence Economics at ACSS, Dr. Assis Malaquias told The New Times that unlike last week’s event, “this is very specific to Rwanda.” “All throughout the week we talked about issues pertaining to the two sub-regions, East Africa and Central Africa, and today (Saturday) we are going to talk about specific issues pertaining to Rwanda,”. Malaquias said. The “specific issues” revolved around how scarce security resources can be effectively managed. While “reintroducing” the ACSS, Dr. Malaquias also emphasized the essence of partnerships. “Here the word I would emphasize is partnership. We work in coordination with our African partners to identify and analyse current and likely future security challenges across the African continent with the purpose or aim of developing methodologies for addressing those challenges and we do at a strategic level,”. Malaquias said. “This is what we have done here in Kigali for the last week, and this is what we are helping to continue doing by strengthening the chapter (RCSS) today.” He noted that ACSS aims to develop and sustain a broad-based network in Africa of security thinkers and practitioners willing to share information and collaborate to achieve common strategic goals. He added that it could only be accomplished by offering “excellent” academic programmes and events for African leaders and secondly, by building a sustained, long-term set of relationships. More than 36 participants from 11 regional countries – including Uganda, Kenya, Chad, Central African Republic, and DRC attended last week’s annual session, the first to be held in Rwanda. Ends