African leaders urged to focus on people’s interests

African leaders should put much emphasis on serving people’s interests to prevent conflicts on the continent, policy analysts and scholars said yesterday.They made the call at the closing of the regional high level conference on conflict in the Great Lakes Region, held in Kigali under the theme, “Governance and Security in Africa: Assessing the Imperatives of Peace and Stability in the Great Lakes Region.”Organised by Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), the two-day forum aimed at exploring and understanding the root causes and possible solutions to the persistent conflicts in the Great Lakes Region and their effects on governance.“Commitment to good governance practices, zero tolerance to corruption and building effective state institutions that serve the interests of the people without segregation should be enhanced,” reads part of the recommendations made at the closure of the forum.During the meeting, the scholars observed that the colonial policy of divide and rule that led to killing of independence heroes, at very early stages of nation building, destruction of home grown systems of governance and political mismanagement of the context of artificial borders created by the partitioning of Africa among others, as some of the root causes of persistence conflicts in the region.“Our leaders should focus on serving the interests of the masses rather than their own. Some African leaders are fond of not putting much emphasis on the interests of the people they lead, which has resulted into insecurity and instability,” said Prof. Jean Baptiste Kakoma, a scholar from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).He stated that collective action against negative forces that bring insecurity and instability in the region should be made a priority to ensure sustainable peace on the continent.The participants agreed that regional conflicts are largely generated by internal conditions; and suggested that solutions should be sought internally and regionally with the international mechanisms only as a support.According to Dr. Chika Ezeanya, a Nigerian scholar and writer, applying home grown solutions is the only better way to address conflicts in the region.“We should show ‘human generosity’ to one another as Africans to bond our relationship and avoid conflicts in our midst,” she emphasised.The participants concurred that regional countries must safeguard and negotiate their strategic interests in efforts to build stable peace and prioritise economic development to ensure more provision of public goods and services to the people.According to Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the CEO of RGB, church leaders and academics should have the responsibility to empower the young people to resist and defeat manipulation.“We hope the resolutions from this conference will help in bringing sustainable solutions to the conflicts that still linger in our region,” he said.Shyaka emphasised the application of home grown solutions to solve conflicts as the major undertaking to put into consideration.The region continues to face persistent conflicts mainly in the eastern DRC.The conference brought together participants from Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Belgium, China, Europe and USA and Rwanda, the host.

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African leaders urged to focus on people’s interests