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Thre
e African countries – South Africa, Ethiopia and
Mozambique – are set to deploy troops next week to the
troubled Burundi to help with monitoring the implementation of the
recently struck ceasefire deal between the Burundian government and
rebel armed forces.
Addressing the Johannesburg Press Club this afternoon, mediator in
the Burundian conflict and South African Deputy President Jacob
Zuma, said the three nations would be sending a joint force to the
Great Lakes country, saying the matter was urgent.
He said Africa could no longer afford conflicts as they interfered
with the region’s development and prosperity.
‘War and conflict cannot exist side by side with development
and peace,’ said the mediator.
Mr Zuma’s remarks follows the meeting with Burundian
President Pierre Buyoya and rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza, over
the weekend in Pretoria, regarding the implementation phase of the
pact which has been widely hailed by the United Nations (UN) and
the African Union (AU).
Asked how much the country was paying towards the deployment of the
force, Mr Zuma said it was too early to speculate as costs could be
determined by how the UN and AU could contribute to the
mission.
He further added that benefits for investing in peace far
outweighed investing in conflicts that ultimately led to disaster
and backwardness.
In 2001, under the captaincy of former President Nelson Mandela, a
three-year transitional government was established in Burundi in a
bid to bring to a halt a ten-year old war that had claimed about a
quarter of a million of civilian lives.
The transitional government was to be led by a Tutsi President for
the first 18 months and then passed on to a Hutu president for the
next 18 months. – BuaNews
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