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Source App: [Congolese Rivals Hold Key To Peace (Editorial) - Netscape]
Congolese Rivals Hold Key To Peace (Editorial)
December 2, 1998
By Nation Correspondent
Nairobi - It is not surprising that the scenario in the Democratic Republic of
Congo is getting more and more complicated. The mediation effort launched
following the France-Africa Summit held in Paris last week has made little
headway because of the deep mistrust among the various players in the Congolese
conflict.
On Monday, Congolese President Laurent Kabila cast doubt on the cease-fire agreement worked out in Paris, but which the rebels fighting his government in the eastern part of the country do not seem enthusiastic about. They have insisted on direct talks with Mr. Kabila whom they accuse of bad governance, corruption and promoting ethnic animosity.
In Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, President Kabila sees backing he believes can help him crush the rebels backed by his former allies turned foes, Uganda and Rwanda. In fact, one of the reasons the conflict is likely to drag on is that Rwanda and Uganda, who committed resources and men to help Mr. Kabila oust former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, feel thoroughly betrayed.
But considering the immense logistical problems in the vast country and the forces behind the belligerents, none seems to have the capacity to inflict outright defeat on the other. The entry into the fray of some fringe groups like one in the north of the country led by former Kinshasa-based businessman Jean -Pierre Bemba, is a good indication that the fighting is escalating.
We are in for a potentially explosive regional situation that calls for assistance from the international community under the auspices of the United Nations. It is instructive that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned that this is not an African problem, but one in which the international community must now intervene.
Mr. Annan and the regional leaders must not give up the quest for a cease-fire to enable the foreign troops in the Congo to withdraw. But as Uganda and Rwanda have clearly stated, this will not be possible unless they are assured that their interests will be protected.
It would then appear that the only solution is to get the Congolese rivals themselves to negotiate a peace plan and genuine national reconciliation.
Implement serious measures on Aids For all the information that continues to be disseminated about the Aids scourge why has the number of those infected worldwide continued to soar and, without a cure that would be affordable to the millions of victims, what can be done to curb the spread of this disease?
Experts say that since the first known case of HIV/Aids was identified in 1981 in the United States, more than 30 million people have been infected worldwide.
At the start of the next century, now just a year away, it is estimated that this figure will have risen to between 35-45 million. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected.
Of the number infected worldwide, over 20 million are found in this region. Indeed, another group of experts has warned that by the year 2010, half of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa will be caused by Aids, more so because other sexually transmitted diseases that facilitate HIV transmission are also rising at an alarming rate.
During the 2nd National Conference on HIV/Aids and STDs held in Nairobi a month ago, Health Minister Jackson Kalweo said more than 1.5 million Kenyans have contracted the virus since 1980. Over half a million of these victims have died.
The rate of infection in Kenya has been estimated to have risen from 3.1 per cent in 1990 to nine per cent in 1997. Aids has come to be seen in a national perspective and economic terms in most countries.
Kenya's director of planning, Dr Kang'ethe Gitu, for example, recently warned that if the trend of HIV/Aids infections in the country does not change, Kenya's Gross Domestic Product will be reduced by 14.5 per cent by the year 2000. Alarming statistics by any description yet the scourge marches on.
What still stand out as major obstacles and how best can they be tackled? For Kenya and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, poor health services and poverty have been linked to the spread of HIV/Aids. Ignorance, too, remains a contributory factor.
However, of more concern is the slow change in sexual behaviour. The government has taken an important step in collating information on HIV/Aids.
It is contained in Sessional Paper No 4 of 1997. But as a group of MPs noted at an Aids seminar last month, it is time the document was implemented.
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