Three of the five drivers of the African rescue plan, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), had their work cut out this week dealing with conflict and crisis on the continent.
President Thabo Mbeki took no fewer than seven of his Cabinet members to Kinshasa for the bi-national commission aimed at beefing up political and economic ties with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But the thrust of the visit was aimed at digging that country’s peace process out of the sand, with a goal of having its first democratic elections next year.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Mbeki’s legal advisor Mojanku Gumbi went ahead to speak to members of the shaky transitional government, which was rendered even more tenuous by the withdrawal last week of the largest former rebel group, the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), led by Azarias Ruberwa. Mbeki saw Ruberwa at least three times during his two-day stay in the DRC.
As the broker of the 2002 Pretoria accord that ended the civil war in the DRC, Mbeki realises the process is virtually untenable without the RCD. But Ruberwa’s political legs are being hacked away by renewed violence against his Tutsi supporters — known as the Banyamulenge — in the eastern Congo.
Later this week Ruberwa was cautiously back at his post as one of the four vice-presidents in the transitional government.
As the United Nations Security Council renewed its mandate for the 10 000-strong peacekeeping force (called Monuc) in the DRC, concern was expressed at the delays in the process.
The 15-member UN powerhouse was also seized with the issue of Darfur, where the deadline passed for the Sudanese government to restore order.
Peace talks hosted by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo ran through its second week with the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups inching towards compromise. Obasanjo is determined to demonstrate some progress in the talks being held in Abuja. But his mediation task is made more difficult by the conviction of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir that China will veto any attempt to impose UN sanctions against his government.
Al Bashir is so emboldened by the inability of the United States and others to take punitive action that he is also hanging tough with the African Union (AU) that wants to send in peacekeepers. The AU currently has only 300 armed men in Sudan protecting the 160 ceasefire observers.
Mbeki and Obasanjo will swap notes on their respective mediation efforts when they meet in Durban next week for the South African-Nigeria bi-national commission.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade hosted a meeting of a dozen countries in West Africa and the Sahel that have been struck by the worst plague of locusts in 20 years. Wade called for the armies of these countries to be mobilised to fight the infestation, which has stripped two million hectares.
At this point, however, Africa’s growing determination to solve its own problems is hamstrung by the imperative of acquiring financial assistance from the international community. Wade noted that at least $100-million would be needed to fight the locusts and their effect.