Roundup: Legislators call for concrete actions to end conflicts in Great Lakes Region

Members of Parliament from 11 African countries have called for tangible actions that will permanently address political conflicts in the Great Lakes region.

Regional legislators made the call on Thursday during the 14th Ordinary Session of the Executive Committee of the Forum of Parliaments in member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FP-ICGLR) in the Rwanda Capital, Kigali.

The regional inter-parliamentary forum, which kicked off on Wednesday in the Rwanda parliamentary buildings, focused mainly on restoring peace and security within ICGLR member countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

"There is political turmoil in a few member countries of ICGLR which threatens security and safety of people within the region. There is an urgent need of concrete actions to ensure debilitating political crisis in the region is contained permanently," said Pedro Sebastiao, president of the Executive Committee of FP-ICGLR and a Member of the National Assembly of Angola.

He stated that security and violence in the region remain a concern despite the ongoing combined search for peaceful solutions to political disputes that have wreaked havoc in the Great Lakes region.

"Our leaders are not doing enough to address these conflicts which keep growing. We are worried of the political situation in the region," Sebastiao, noted.

The two-day high level meeting brought together participants including lawmakers, among them speakers of parliament and members of the national assembly and senators, drawn from 11 African nations.

At the forum, lawmakers voiced their commitment to providing a significant contribution towards promoting peace and stability in the Great Lakes region.

Bernard Makuza, president of the Rwanda senate, noted that the current crisis situation continues to exist and have a negative impact on both civilians and trading activities among ICGLR member countries.

"We call upon policy makers in the region to critically study and examine these conflicts what needs to be done to permanently end the crisis and to make recommendations to the Assembly," he said.

According to MPs, conflicts in the region have claimed a heavy toll of human life, causing the displacement of communities, the destruction of economic activities and traumatized populations.

Kenyan Senate speaker Ekwee Ethuro said that tough measures will bring lasting solution to political stability in the Great Lakes Region.

"If we don't apply concrete actions to end regional political conflicts, the whole region will be engulfed in political turmoil which will lay a bleeding ground for terror acts and other subversive activities," he added.

The Great Lakes region comprises countries that share Lakes Kivu, Albert, Edward, Victoria, Mweru and Tanganyika. These countries are Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the DR Congo, Kenya, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia.

The meeting's recommendations will be submitted to all parliaments in ICGLR member countries through the 7th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly of the FP-ICGLR to be held in Khartoum, Sudan, in December.

Under the FP-ICGLR, which remains the main inter-parliamentary organization of African Parliaments in the Africa Great Lakes Region, members discuss regional security and the prevention and management of conflicts among member countries.

The ongoing session of the forum's executive committee in Kigali has also attracted delegates from the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA), a group of European legislators involved in African-European parliamentary dialogue. Endit