STEPPING UP REGIONAL PEACEKEEPING IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

by Winnet Mutimbe

"Political stability and security, one of the top priorities of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is set to be enhanced by the establishment of a Southern African Regional Peacekeeping Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The centre was officially opened in June and is expected to improve political stability in the region by promoting cooperation in peacekeeping operations among southern African countries and between the region and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations (UN).

Speaking at the official opening, the representative of the UN Under-Secretary General responsible for Peacekeeping operations, Dr. Leonard T. Kapungu, said, "The Peacekeeping Centre is an asset that will strengthen the institutional mechanism of the OAU in peacekeeping."

Dr. Kapungu also added that peacekeeping is vital for the survival and development of the region and there is need for collaboration with the UN.

"Recent events have made it obvious that no regional organisation even the most powerful in the world, can maintain regional peace and security alone, without partnership with the UN," he added.

The centre is expected to assist countries in the region to promote varied tasks, ranging from ceasefires, monitoring elections and creating a safe and secure environment to protecting the delivery of humanitarian assistance, by training the manpower required for such operations.

Monitoring and training of the local police force is also one of the major functions the centre is expected to perform. The training is aimed at improving the skills of the regional police forces in peacekeeping operations.

Southern Africa has been making consistent efforts to promote peace in the region through various activities such as regional military training programmes started in 1997. The same year, there was a multi-dimensional peacekeeping exercise code-named 'Blue Hungwe', which brought together military and civilian components from various countries in the region, held in Zimbabwe. A similar operation dubbed 'Blue Crane' was held in South Africa in April 1999. Both exercises were aimed at enhancing the capacity of the SADC/ Interstate Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC) military forces in peacekeeping operations.

SADC countries have also provided military and related support to other countries in the region. For instance, Malawi sent peacekeeping troops to the UN operation in Rwanda; Namibia supplied Civilian Police personnel to UN operations in Angola and peacekeeping troops to Cambodia; and Zimbabwe provided battalions to Angola, Somalia and Uganda/Rwanda operations.

Speaking at the official opening of the centre, the Danish first secretary in the Ministry of foreign affairs, Ellen Margrethu Loj, said, "The creation of regional security structures creates new possibilities and a basis for a division of labour between organisations because no organisation is capable of dealing with all these issues alone."

If successful, the cooperation between the UN and southern Africa could help resolve or even avoid differences that occur between countries regarding methods of intervention. For example, relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe were strained as a result of differences of intervention in the DRC conflict.

However, critics remain convinced the peacekeeping centre will not be a solution to conflicts that arise in troop deployment.

For instance, an analyst from the Southern African Regional Institute for Policy Studies (SARIPS), Professor Mwesiga Barego, said; "Though the idea of establishing a regional peacekeeping centre is very noble, the clarity of its operations is questionable. There are no set conditions as to when and how a country can intervene in the conflict of another country."

Brig. Stanford Khumalo in a journal entitled: New Partners in Peace: Towards a Southern African Peacekeeping Capacity, shared the same sentiments, "The establishment of a regional peacekeeping force through the centre, is a very good idea, but as far as I see it, the whole programme will in future run into serious problems. Look at the issue of the Congo, countries differed on how to intervene."

If the operations of the centre are going to be funded by the UN as is expected, its efficiency could be deterred because the organisation has in the past failed to reimburse countries that have participated in the its peacekeeping missions.

"There is no longer a guarantee that future UN peacekeeping missions will be supported by the international community because of its failure to reimburse countries that have participated in the past. At the end of 1993, the organisation owed some $335 million to countries that had participated in peacekeeping missions and there is no hope that countries contributing to future UN peacekeeping operations, will be reimbursed speedily by the UN for their efforts," the journal said.

If SADC member states decide to fund the centre from their own budget, its operations could still face another financial hurdle because most countries in the region have adhered to calls by financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund to reduce their military expenditure. (SARDC)