Defence Minister Meets Mandela

As part of his tour of the Southern Africa region, the Minister for Defence, Hon. Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor visited Burundi from 03-04 July 2001. Accompanying the Minister was the Chief of the Defence Staff, Major General S.K. Obeng; the Military Assistant to the CDS Col. J.S. Nkrumah, the Military Assistant to the Minister for Defence, Lt Col O.B. Akwa and the Aide De Camp to the CDS, Capt Ampadu.

The object of the visit was to discuss ways and means of moving the Burundi Peace Process forward. On arrival in the capital city of Bujumbura, the delegation was lifted by helicopter to the southern town of Rutovu to have audience with the President of Bunindi, His Excellency Pierre Buyoya.

During the meeting the delegation was extensively briefed on the current situation in the country covering the political history, management of the crisis and an update on the peace process.

The Defence Minister also met with the Vice President of Burundi, His Excellency Frederick Bamvuginyamvira; the Defence Minister of Burundi, Major General Cyrille Ndayirukiye and several Ministers of State and high-ranking government officials.

In all his deliberations with state officials, Dr Addo-Kufuor stressed the need to go beyond the provisions of the Arusha Peace Accord for Burundi.

He rather called for a more interactive approach to peace-building to involve all segments of the society including workers' organizations, professional bodies, religious leaders, women and students' organizations.

He said when the sensitivities of such groups, who constitute the majority in society, are taken into account by a neutral and respected mediation body, the much-needed peace would naturally follow.

As part of his visit programme, Dr Addo-Kufuor interacted with the ordinary people in the streets of Bujumbura and was applauded as he articulated his vision for that countly. In a confidence-building move, Dr Addo-Kufuor also visited Kinama, a suburb of Bujumbura which was the scene of a recent heavy fighting between government troops and the opposing troops of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), who occupied that portion of the city for ten days before being evicted.

At the end of the visit, Dr Addo-Kufuor pledged Ghana's total commitment to the realization of peace and security in Burundi and said he was prepared to place the vast peace-keeping experience of the Ghana Armed Forces at the disposal of the UN in any future peacekeeping mission in Burundi. This would however be dependant on a ceasefire agreed upon by all the parties involved in the conflict.

On his way to Bujumbura, Dr Addo-Kufuor made a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya and held discussions with the Kenyan Vice President, His Excellency George Saitoti.

The Honorary Consul General of Ghana in Kenya, Mr Chris Kirubi was of immense assistance in arranging for the reception in Nairobi and the meeting with the Vice President.

From Bujumbura, the delegation proceeded to Pretoria, South Africa to attend a conference on the Burundi Peace Process which was chaired by the South African Defence Minister.

Other participating countries in addition to Ghana, Burundi and South Africa, were Nigeria, Senegal and Belgium.

The main resolution of the conference was the decision to dispatch a Technical Assessment Team comprising two representatives from each participating country, to Burundi to assess the ground situation and report back to the conference within a time frame of five weeks.

South Africa is to coordinate the activities of the Technical Assessment Team through contacts provided by participating countries.

Finally, the delegation paid a courtesy call on the former South African President, Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg on 6 July 2001.

As the Facilitator for the Burundi Peace Process, former President Mandela held private discussion with the delegation on a number of issues including the initiatives tabled at the Pretoria Conference and the visit of Dr Addo-Kufuor to Burundi.