Africa must urgently have peace force Minister Sydney Sekeramayi
sekeramayi

Cde Sekeramayi

Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
A stanza from the Africa Union (AU) anthem that was melodiously sung last week by pupils from Mosi-oa-Tunya High School in Victoria Falls at the official opening of the continental body’s defence summit reads:“Let us all unite and celebrate together

The victories won for our liberation

Let us dedicate ourselves to rise together

To defend our liberty and unity.

O Sons and Daughters of Africa

Flesh of the Sun and Flesh of the Sky

Let us make Africa the Tree of Life.”

It seeks unity and defence of Africa’s liberty but the continent has seen a number of security threats that, to some extent, have hampered what the stanza seeks to promote.

Events around Africa in recent years and months have made the resolution to set up the Africa Standby Force (ASF) more urgent.

Political instability in a number of African countries, the recent ones being the upheavals in Burundi that culminated in an attempted coup as well as rising terrorist activities, require a security rethink on the part of African leaders.

Terrorists threaten the peace and economy of among others Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Somalia and the Central African Republic.

The Organisation of African Unity, now the AU, was formed on May 25, 1963, with an agenda to liberate the continent from colonialism and apartheid. That was achieved when South Africa attained independence in 1994. However, a number of challenges remain, among them economic stagnation and insecurity.

Therefore, the need to establish a home grown military force to deal with increasing conflicts has become paramount.

Closing the 8th ordinary meeting of the African Union Ministers of Defence that was held in Victoria Falls last week, Dr Sydney Sekeramayi urged member states to desist from over dependence on foreign military intervention.

Dr Sekeramayi, who is also Zimbabwe Defence Minister said it was imperative that implementation of the ASF-on the cards for about a decade, be prioritised. He said Africa Day was a reminder of the need for unity on the continent.

“Africa Day is a re-dedication of the whole concept that we should be a united continent. As fragmented as we’re right now in terms of languages, tribes, religion and even ethnic groups, we’ll not move forward. We must be a continent that says all these other things aren’t as important as our sovereignty,” he said.

Dr Sekeramayi urged the AU to be guided by principles of Africa’s founding fathers as well as the need to safeguard the fundamental freedoms of future generations, which can be done by using home grown solutions in resolving crises.

“The intended operationalisation of the ASF will be a positive development in maintaining peace and will also minimise involvement of foreign nations,” Dr Sekeramayi.

The Defence Ministers’ meeting, which was preceded by a meeting of experts on Defence, Safety and Security followed by African Chiefs of Defence Staff and Heads of Safety and Security Services sessions, was part of efforts by the continent to speed up the ASF’s operationalisation.

The idea of a unified force was mooted in 1996 after the Rwanda genocide but its operationalisation has missed many deadlines.

Africa’s failure to have its own army to maintain peace has seen former colonisers such as France being requested to intervene to tackle crises in Mali and Central African Republic (CAR).

Only the ASF can stop the continued manipulation of conflict in Africa by former colonisers to turn the continent into their playground.

The AU has powers to intervene in member states in grave circumstances: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The envisaged ASF will have multidimensional capabilities, including military, police and civilian, on standby in their countries of origin and ready for rapid deployment.

The initial concept of the ASF was that of a quick reaction to enable Africans to respond swiftly to a crisis unhampered by any heavy political and instrumental burdens. Some of the duties are observation and monitoring missions, peace support operations, peace building, post conflict disarmament and demobilisation, humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of civilian population in conflict areas and support efforts to address major natural disasters.

AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui said terrorist activities that include radicalism and extremism were on the rise with West Africa, North Africa and East Africa being the worst affected sub-regions, strengthening calls for the ASF to be created.

“The rise of terrorism and extremism is the major challenge that’s negatively affecting some parts of our continent. Terrorist activities have expanded in our continent with East Africa, West Africa and North Africa being the most affected regions,” said Chergui.

“While it’s important to address some of the contributing factors such as poverty and lack of opportunities, it’s very urgent that we be guided by principles of our union and mobilise the necessary intelligence to effectively fight terrorism and to address the conditions that give rise to radicalisation and extremism.”

Chergui said the continent was committed to fighting instability, hence the need for ASF as a matter of urgency.

He said besides fighting terrorism, the ASF would also deal with security threats brought about by pandemics such as Ebola and other non-military emergencies.

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