Uganda’s Museveni says continent must stamp out extremism
Dec 14, 2006 (NAIROBI) — The democratic elections in Congo go a long way toward ending the cycle of dictatorship and violence in central Africa but more work is needed, the president of Uganda said Thursday.
Speaking during this week’s International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, President Yoweri Museveni said African leaders must stamp out rebel and extremist groups in order to gain lasting peace.
“The successful elections in the (Congo) solves part of the problem. I’ll call it 50%. The lack of democracy in Congo has been a problem because it is a vast country,” Museveni said. But, he added, groups such as Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and Rwanda’s Hutu extremist group, the Interahamwe, remain problems.
The Great Lakes region – an area bordered by Congo, Rwanda and Burundi – is afflicted with extreme poverty, easy access to weapons, and the human dislocations caused by refugees pouring across borders.
Leaders from 11 African countries involved in the conference were expected to sign an agreement Friday that proposes spending $2 billion over five years to build roads and restore basic services. The countries are Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Earlier Thursday, Congolese President Joseph Kabila said economic projects will be able to flourish in his country due to the elections. One of the proposals under the countries’ plan is to rehabilitate Congo’s Inga Dam, which is believed to have the potential to generate 40,000 megawatts but now only produces 1,775 MW.
“We have completed the pacification process in the sense that after the reunification of the country we have successfully held elections. With peace and stability all those projects will become a reality,” said Kabila, who was declared the winner of an October presidential run-off vote. He is the country’s first freely elected president since 1960
Besides the financial commitments, the agreement to be signed Friday – known as the Pact of Security, Stability and Development – also involves various declarations the countries are committed to peace.
The Great Lakes conference, which is backed by the U.N. Security Council, was first held in 2004 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. At the Nairobi meeting, Tanzania will hand over leadership of the conference to Kenya. A secretariat to coordinate the various projects will be set up in Burundi and Tanzania will appoint its first executive secretary.
(AP)