Whose Peace Are We Building?: Leadership for Peace in Africa by Youssef Mahmoud & Mbiatem Albert

Author:Youssef Mahmoud & Mbiatem Albert [Mahmoud, Youssef & Albert, Mbiatem]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780755618545
Goodreads: 54589792
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 2021-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

Reflections on my contributions with respect to the FNL

My own contributions as ERSG to the peace process led by Minister Nqakula were guided by the spirit and letter of paragraph 4 of Security Council Resolution 1791 (2007), in which the Secretary-General was requested, ‘including through BINUB, to play a robust political role in support of the peace process, in full coordination with regional and international partners.’74 This request was reiterated in the Council’s Presidential Statement of 24 April 2008, after the breakout of violence occurring earlier that month.

I robustly carried out the role entrusted to me, while fully recognizing and respecting that the main facilitator for the process was Minister Nqakula and his South African mediation team. Even during periods of heightened insecurity – such as during late 2007/early 2008,75 when the FNL declared its lack of confidence in Mr Nqakula – my initiatives toward unblocking the situation were invariably coordinated with Nqakula’s deputy, Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo. This included faithfully reporting, both in writing and orally, on my private meeting in Dar-es-Salaam with the FNL leadership, as well as subsequent telephone conversations with them, usually initiated by either Pasteur Habimana, the FNL spokesman, or the movement’s Chairman, Agathon Rwasa. I invariably toed the agreed line at the conclusion of our deliberations inside the Political Directorate.

I was therefore stunned to learn towards the end of 2008 of a memo from Minister Nqakula addressed to the Secretary-General accusing me of undermining his efforts. In a meeting with DPKO senior management in November 2008, in the margins of a briefing to the Security Council, Minister Nqalula repeated his grievance. I can only speculate as to the underlying causes of these sentiments, but even so we were subsequently able to iron out whatever misunderstanding had occurred, continuing to work together in perfect synergy until my departure. This culminated in the positive results witnessed after the FNL returned to the country and transformed into a political party.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.