When Africa’s leaders met to mull gang-up against rising conflicts

On February 24^th, Heads of State and Government of the signatory countries of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region convened, in Kinshasa, the Capital of DRC.  The meeting, hosted by President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo reviewed the political and security developments in the Great Lakes region and the progress made in the implementation of the PSC Framework since their last meeting held in Kampala, Uganda, on 8 October 2018. The meeting also discussed the causes and drivers of instability and conflict in the region. The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework aims at fostering efforts to stabilise the region.

The Kinshasa summit, the 10th in the series, brought together the presidents of the DRC, South Africa, Uganda, Angola, the Republic of Congo, Burundi and the Central African Republic. It comes on the backdrop of a number of conflicts that have afflicted Africa, and most pronounced in West Africa. In Mali, the country is struggling to build peace and achieve security after an armed rebellion broke out in the north in January 2012. The crisis started as a Tuareg rebellion against the Malian government and later developed into a violent extremist insurgency as a number of violent extremist groups joined in and took over several cities and territory in northern Mali.

Burkina Faso is also grappling with a humanitarian crisis following an internal conflict across all regions in the country. Armed violence has caused massive population displacements and it is increasingly targeting civilians. More than 1.5 million people are internally displaced due to violence, a 47% increase in 2021 alone. In 2021, violent attacks claimed almost 2,300 lives.

During the meeting, President Yoweri Museveni, a lurid advocate for African peace stated that the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework has not worked well to deal with the growing security threats in the great lakes region.

“I want to inform you that the mechanism has not worked well for 4 reasons,” Museveni said, identifying the reasons as being; the imported pseudo ideology of exclusion and sectarianism, handling of security in the region, lack of cooperation, poor infrastructure and lack of social economic transformation.

Mr Museveni has come out in the past to blast coup plotters in Africa, arguing that they have no orientation nor ideology but are working for the interests of perpetrators of insecurity. “In the great lakes, we know the people who live there since time immemorial. The ones who live in the grasslands, in the mountains and forest regions, but some have been promoting a pseudo ideology of exclusion. This is what caused big problems in Rwanda and Burundi and other parts,” Mr Museveni stated at the Kinshasa summit. He argues that it is this that has led to mishandling of security issues causing suffering and displacements

“We are very rich in refugees. We (Uganda) have got 1.7 million refugees. These refugees are not coming from the moon but from the Great Lakes Region, caused by insecurity and attacks by criminal groups,” Museveni said.

According to Museveni however, the groups causing insecurity in the Great Lakes Region can all be defeated from what he has observed in the 60 years.

“This problem of insecurity in Africa which is becoming bigger and bigger can be defeated. Our elders like Mwalimu Nyerere (Tanzania), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia) and others with friendly fighters from Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, defeated bigger problems. We were able to defeat the Whites in Southern Africa and Namibia. How can we fail to defeat these reluctant groups? That means there’s something that is missing which our elders did and we’re not doing,” Museveni said, adding, “that there’s now more capacity than Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia had in 1974 when the African armies defeated the Portuguese Army in Africa.

Last year, President Museveni castigated coup leaders in Guinea where soldiers toppled President Alpha Conde, questioning their ideological stand. He opined that soldiers who take over government by force go against the decision of the African Union that outlawed coups.

In a 15-page statement about coups that have taken place in Africa Museveni wondered whether coup plotters understand the aims of the African freedom fighters that caused the formation of revolutionary parties like the African National Congress. “Whose interest are you serving?” Mr Museveni queried then.

The president added that he would not have any problem with any group even those who he doesn’t share a political ideology to get to power provided they are elected.

In Kinshasa, Museveni saluted President Felix Tshisekedi of the DRC for cooperating to eliminate the rebels of Allied Democratic Forces – ADF.  “I can tell you, if we cooperate, there’s no security problem we cannot defeat in Africa. I’m telling you this because I know it,” Museveni emphasised.

At the Summit, the heads of state also welcomed the rapprochement between Burundi and Rwanda and encouraged the two countries to continue their efforts towards the full normalization of bilateral relations. They also hailed Uganda and Rwanda for signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Rwanda and Uganda in Luanda, Angola, on 21 August 2019, and subsequent efforts through the quadripartite process, facilitated by His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of Angola, and His Excellency Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They commended the government of Rwanda for re-opening of the Gatuna/Katuna border post between Rwanda and Uganda and encouraged the continued dialogue between the two countries to resolve outstanding issues.