Catholic Information Service for Africa
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Rev Mvume Dandala, general secretary of All Africa Conference of Churches expressed appreciation for the efforts made by the leadership and the people Somalia in the pursuance of peace through the recent Somalia National Reconciliation Congress in Mogadishu.
He regretted that violence was used by suspected Islamic radicals to abort the congress. "The AACC is encouraged by the character of the people of Somalia in demonstrating their sense of civic duty aimed at the establishment of real peace and the ending of the vicious cycle of loss of human life, dignity, property and livelihoods in Somalia," Dandala said.
The AACC general secretary spoke on Monday during the opening session of the world Conference of Religious for Peace Gender Based violence regional Training in Nairobi, Kenya.
"We have to affirm the Interim Government in Somalia for its initiative for discussions through the Congress. It is therefore, regrettable that the concerns and aspirations of the people of Somalia were not given the chance to be voiced. It is a fact that, social cohesion and governance are based on a social contract that forms a government."
He said it was a bold decision by President Abdullahi Yussuf to have the peace talks in Mogadishu in the midst of all the potential dangers that its venue posed.
All Somali leaders, formal and informal, have a duty to ensure that the expectations of the people are matched with a realization of a new era of peace and nation building, Rev Dandala said.
Source: CISA, Aug 01, 2007