Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU), Moussa Faki Mahamat, said current conflicts facing the continent call for Africans to draw deep into their traditional customs and best recipes to foster lasting peace-building.

Opening the 13th annual high-level retreat of AU representatives here on Saturday, Mahamat said the current conflict resolution management is inoperative, therefore it is imperative for Africans to draw deep into the use of traditional and religious authorities, whose morals are still alive in Africa.

Mahamat said conflicts and oppressions continue to persist on the continent, making it imperative for the AU to question and adjust procedures for conflict management and resolutions in the prospect of peace-building.

“The AU resolution of peace has been absorbed in many member states, including those still engulfed in post-electoral violence and civil war. However, despite all the efforts, oppression and hostility continue to persist. We need to draw deep into our traditional customs to further bring transformation of mediation,” he noted.

The AU head said the theme of the retreat ‘Transformation Mediation for Africa’s Effective Governance and Peace Dividends’ calls for governments to deal with all the root causes of the continent’s problem and not only stress on the social and political responsibilities of government.

Mahamat further stressed that geopolitical oppression could emerge from the Russia-Ukraine war, like during the times of the Cold War, where Africa had become the field for rivalry of superpowers, noting that in that regard, Africa voices are still not heard and therefore solidarity from the continent is imperative to foster interventions in conflict prevention, management and resolution on the African continent.

“Africa should integrate its quest for peace, a strategy for creation of wealth that could reduce significant dependence on external partners. Africa should accept African solutions to African problems,” he noted.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency