President Chakwera during the Summit held virtually
* Many countries have suffered a lot while multitudes of people have been displaced
* Leaving women and children more vulnerable in their communities
By Mphatso Nkuonera, MANA
President Lazarus Chakwera has appealed to African Union (AU) and other international organizations to joins hands in silencing guns in Africa in order to win peace, saying the current state of affairs has left many hopeless in their own land.
He made the remarks at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday when he addressed the media after holding the Au Summit Heads of State and Government Summit which was held virtually.
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The 984th AU Heads of State and Government Summit on Peace and Security Council was supposed to be physically held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and but was held virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic.
“The meeting had two main agendas of African leaders discussing on ways of attaining sustainable peace in Africa with a focus on climate change and its effects on peace and security in the continent.
“The second agenda was a follow up on the implementation of the decision on silencing the guns which was made during the 14th extraordinary summit,” he said.
President Chakwera said many countries have suffered a lot while multitudes of people have been displaced, leaving women and children more vulnerable in their communities.
He added that AU has been very committed to make sure that countries are able to access and receive COVID-19 vaccination in Africa.
“We need to take this immunization in one front internationally because if one country is behind on vaccination other will be equally affected, so we must take it very seriously,” he said.
Chairperson of the African Union, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi said climate change has seriously impacted on the African continent and has resulted in the increase in conflicts due to scramble for resources like water, food and arable land.
“The sustainable development is very important to the achievement of African development but unfortunately our countries are sunk in conflicts being it political or just insurgencies like in Mozambique, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Ethiopia and in my own country DRC and many other countries across Africa.
“We need these to be faced with one front, by the Peace Security Council to address conflicts that have sprouted in the Western Sahara so that we silence the guns in Africa,” he said.
Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta — who is AU Peace and Security Council chairperson — said member states should consider transferring the fleet from road to rail as a way of defeating climate change.
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