----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Mensah" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 6:21 PM
Subject: [unioNews] Conflicts hamper democracy in Africa - Chissano


Sunday, March 7, 2004
<H3>Conflicts hamper democracy in Africa - Chissano</B>
Abuja, Mozambique (PANA) -  Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano
said in Abuja on Saturday that the prevalence of armed conflicts
in some African countries constituted a serious challenge to the
construction and consolidation of democracy in the continent.

He explained that the top priority of governments in these
societies should be to find ways to solve the disputes that are
the main cause of violent conflicts, since there will be no space
for democratic practices without peace.

Chissano was addressing a lecture to mark the launch of a
biography of Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, a colleague of the current
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, and who died five years
ago, following torture at the hands of the military dictatorship
headed by Sani Abacha, which accused him of conspiring to
overthrow the Abacha regime.

Talking about the importance of peace, Chissano stressed that "we
(Mozambicans) have learnt that lesson the hard way.

"But we successfully solved the conflict through dialogue, and we
are currently promoting a culture of peace, reconciliation,
forgiveness and tolerance."

He insisted that peace is essential, not just for each country
alone, but for all of Africa, since a conflict in one country
affected the others.

Chissano stressed the importance of education as one of the
factors for the consolidation of democracy, explaining that
democracy can only flourish where citizens are educated.

Africa needs to develop local technical capacities to carry
out its own electoral processes and manage democratic
institutions, he added.

"Our people need to be educated in democracy because there
are problems of understanding, resulting from poor translation of
imported western concepts into local languages," he said.

There were difficulties in translating the very terms of
"democracy" and "political party" as well as making distinctions
between words such as "association" and "political party" or
between "president" and "king."

He said that to prevent such constraints, it is imperative to
reduce the current levels of illiteracy, estimated at a little
over 50 percent in the continent.

Chissano was speaking as a special guest on the theme of
"Challenges to the Consolidation of Democracy in Africa."

He said that he accepted Obasanjo's invitation to present
this theme because Yar'Adua was committed to the promotion and
protection of "democratic values, human rights, social justice,
and opportunities for all."

Yar'Adua was one of those who took part actively, alongside
Obasanjo and others, in preparing Nigeria for a civilian and
democratic government.

"We recall his leadership in the call for a civilian government
in the 1994 National Constitutional Conference," Chissano said.

Chissano also took the opportunity to speak about the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), saying that when
adopting this programme, African leaders concluded that it was
necessary to create stronger mechanisms to consolidate peace and
democracy as a pre-requisite for lasting peace and sustainable
development in the continent.

NEPAD principles include good governance as a basic pre-requisite
to promote peace, security, political sustainability and socio-
economic development.

Copyright © 2004 PANA







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