Kabarebe meets military attachés, advises on conflicts

The Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe, has called on visiting African Military and Defence Attachés to use their platform to get to the root cause of the persisting conflicts in the Great Lakes region.The delegation that met Minister Kabarebe at his office in Kimihurura is composed of 30 military attaches representing 27 African countries at African Union in Ethiopian are under Military Attachés Association (MAA).Other members of the delegation are attachés representing international organisations, also at the AU. They are in the country, since yesterday, for a five-day workshop where they are expected to brainstorm on conflicts in Africa and come up with best ways to mitigate them.The workshop opens today at the Rwanda Peace Academy in Musanze, Northern Province.Kabarebe said it was important for the officers to acclimatise themselves with the conflict situation in the region, which he said would help them in coming up with practical solutions. “Conflicts get persistent because the solution prescribed is not based on the root cause of the problem,” he said, insisting that getting to the root of each conflict should be paramount.Sharing informationHe emphasised that the Rwandan officers should openly share information about Rwanda with the military attachés, saying it would help enrich their understanding about Rwanda’s history as well as that of the region.In an interview the Dean of tMilitary Attachés Association, Brig. Gen. Vincent Nungwe, said conflicts in African continue to persevere mainly because of lack of good governance. “We want to know how Rwanda has managed to overcome the challenges that led to the 1994 Genocide; from what we have seen so far, I think Rwanda is a role model when it comes to good governance,” he said. The visit to Rwanda is part of the annual programme dubbed “African Tour Project” that the association initiated last year and it’s the first of its kind.One of the objectives of the association is to enhance exchange of ideas, interaction and ability to influence peace and security policies affecting the African continent. Some of the key topics to be discussed include politics in post-Genocide Rwanda, conflict and insecurity predicament in the Great Lakes Region: underlying causes and solutions, a brief on the security situation in Rwanda and Eastern DRC, good governance and development: the case study of post- Genocide Rwanda, among others.The delegation yesterday visited Kigali Genocide memorial and Gako Peacekeeping Training Centre before heading to Northern Province.

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Kabarebe meets military attachés, advises on conflicts