By Mbafan Ade –
Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, said external interventions, especially military operations, have largely failed to restore stability not only in Africa but elsewhere, with the most recent example being the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
While the form of insecurity threats has evolved and destroyed countries, President Kagame emphasized last week at the Global Security Forum 2021 held by Qatar on October 12 that the global framework for responding with these threats, including UN interventions, remains ineffectual.
He cited the United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the DRC (Monusco) created in 1999, tasked with neutralising armed groups that have “operated for 20 years, with meagre results,”; the UN mission in the Sahel region, and the recent collapse of the Afghan government.
“Insecurity is caused by shortfalls in governance. Sometimes insecurity takes especially dangerous forms, such as terrorism or even genocide, as was the case in Rwanda. It crosses borders and affects neighbours and entire regions,” President Kagame said, adding that “despite many chances to learn lessons from past failures, the global toolbox for dealing with these threats has hardly evolved.”
“It is not from lack of engagement or lack of money. I would say that no amount of external funding or troop commitment can create sustainable peace, without putting governance at the centre of it all,” said the president.
His comments come at a time when Rwanda has 1,000 troops deployed in Mozambique under a bilateral agreement, and have since been joined by 1,500 troops under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to fight Islamic insurgents in Cabo Delgado.