Category: Opinion

Here in Australia it is Child Protection Week…’Together We Care’ is this year’s slogan. It is a reflection of the African saying that it takes a village to raise a child…because indeed it does.

My thoughts are with the families grieving for the loss of their daughters, sisters but most importantly, Mothers today…those women reported to have been strangled by a killer or killers in Kigali.

All these women are alleged to have been prostitutes…it appears that for that profession they lost their lives. Reports to date indicate as many as 15 women have been murdered.

My question is…when will the sex worker industry be regulated? Could these deaths have been prevented if the industry had been regulated?

Is an Inquiry going to establish what measures could be taken to minimise risks of harm to prostitutes and the community at large in its relationship to this industry?

We have done so here in my state, Queensland. Prostitution regulation legislation was introduced in the 1990s. We care about the health and safety of those men and women who work in the industry…and that of their clients. Turning a blind-eye to the vulnerability of these people is not good enough.

It does take a community to raise a child….and the children of these prostitutes needed their mothers. It is time for the Rwandan community to take better care of its sex workers…and for the sake of the health of the whole community.

Our Government regulation is also designed to reduce the likelihood of the spread of transmissible diseases and reduce/eliminate the involvement of organized crime in this industry.

A regulated industry also means governments are more able to collect taxes from the businesses….businesses that are often otherwise controlled by organize crime syndicates well versed in tax evasion.

To read more about government regulation in Queensland and how it works – go to this link: http://www.pla.qld.gov.au/ The Prostitution Licensing Authority is committed to:

• the principles of respect, integrity and impartiality
• promoting and improving safety and health in the sex industry and in the wider community

• preventing corruption and organised crime in licensed brothels
• ensuring that all its activities are based on the best information and research available to it.

So, if you care about the lives of all Rwandans, talk to your politicians about how they feel about government regulation of the sex industry….for the sake of Rwandan children of prostitutes and for their mothers.

Show those orphaned children and the 15 families of all those that have been murdered that ‘together we care’….the loss of their mother and all those other women murdered, has not been in vain…that the Rwandan government will make the industry safe for all workers in it and their clients….for this is acting in the ‘communities interest’.

Together we care.

The media plays a critical role in shaping national, regional and global politics, economics and diplomacy.

Equally important is the continued political and economic integration of the East African Community (EAC) in our increasingly globalised environment.

The media will be an invaluable partner in communicating our agenda, advancing our interests and being among the key narrators of our story.

In addition, by holding both our governments and citizens to account, a responsible media will promote our core values, good governance and democracy on which a successful integration can best be built.

In order to do this effectively, we should develop a critical, competitive and profitable home-grown media that will foster debate on relevant issues and influence the way the rest of the world sees and understands us.

Governments and the media need not be adversaries, as is sometimes the case. They can be partners without either compromising the independence and effectiveness of the other.

The media, especially broadcast, has taken advantage of the integration process to spread into the region and report on matters East African.

However, it has not gone far or deep enough. For far too long, the international media has dominated the region and set the news agenda.

This often means that they tell our story from their perspective or distort it altogether. Such misrepresentation derails our progress and even fuels conflict.

This is made worse when our own media either remain silent or just relay the same biased reports, becoming complicit in perpetuating these views.

There are interesting and relevant stories in our region that do not get the coverage that they should, such as the steady progress the EAC has made in various areas – from the Customs Union to the Common Market, free movement of people and capital to ongoing talks about a monetary union and movement towards political federation.

In order to nurture a pan-East African media, all partners have the responsibility to invest in it and raise professional and ethical standards.

For the media to tell our story well, it must have access to the right information and the freedom to disseminate it. This in turn helps it articulate, guarantee and advance other freedoms.

In Rwanda, in spite of what outsiders might say, we regard the media as an important partner in our country’s development. That is why we have made reform of the media a priority.

Among the key reforms are self-regulation and access to information, both of which should benefit the industry and also raise responsibility among practitioners.

The EAC needs common reforms so as to establish norms and standards for the media to enable it to carry out its responsibilities effectively.

EAC partner states have continued to create a conducive environment for the media to operate, which should lead to an increase in the number of media outlets and better reporting in the region.

The era of fast-evolving social media presents us with immense opportunities for far-reaching instant communication and immediate feedback.

Social media gives East African citizens a voice and challenges the influence of traditional media dominated by a few voices. It is an important tool for citizens to hold all leaders, including conventional media, accountable.

The East African

The third world war won’t be about countries fighting countries. But, it will be just as bloody, devastating, intensely cruel and oblivious to the value of human life.

It will be a war fought on three fronts. On one side the have-nots on another the haves and lurking on the periphery like vultures waiting for protagonists to rip each other apart, will be the opportunists.

No one will escape. No country will be able to remain neutral and carry on business and life as usual because unlike previous world wars, almost every country in the world is now heavily dependent on survival by other countries thanks to the spread of globalisation.

Survival

The Signs are There to See, Plain at Day

At Marikina in South Africa for example, where miners were prepared to die to earn more. They rejected their biggest union. They rejected calls by the police. They allegedly actually hacked a couple of policemen to death. A lot of them died in a fusillade of bullets.

Whether or not they are being paid enough is beside the point. Facts and reality are not going to be important in the third world war. It will be a war fuelled by perception.

Whether or not the Marikana miners earn 10 times less than their counterparts in Australia or 100 times less than Lonmin’s COO, will not be up for debate or justification.

Earning disparity will not be what will cause today’s isolated disputes to escalate into a world war. It will simply be a question of the have-nots being unable to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

It will be no good saying that workers are lucky to have jobs and that they should think about those people who have no jobs.

Survival is Survival

When you think about it – the Arab Spring uprisings have all been about the haves and the have-nots.

Just about every incident of social unrest that makes the news headlines these days has got an element of the have and have not syndrome.

Things are Beginning to Turn

Research that I have done over the past 10 years on consumer behaviour shows quite clearly now that all over the world the common denominator is a desperation by the consumer for something to trust.

The banking scandals, religious scandals, political scandals and increasing incidents of what is perceived to be blatant corporate greed, have left the average consumer completely disconsolate about those who are supposed to be leading by example.

There was a time when demonstrations of wealth by corporate and political bigwigs actually inspired the have-nots to achieve greater things in life. I am not sure that works all that well anymore.

Even in South Africa where displays of wealth and power have been culturally embedded for centuries, things are beginning to turn with powerful politicians and businessmen being seen less as role models and more as just fats cats.

The growing number of service delivery protests in this country are becoming more intense, more violent and more bloody.

Phenomenon of Entitlement

In South Africa today the phenomenon of entitlement has become stronger and stronger and the pursuit of entitlement has developed to a point where the taking of human life is simply part of the process.

I believe that killing will become increasingly part of the have-nots’ strategy because they perceive it has been part of the have’s culture for centuries.

One could go on and on with depressing examples of how the third world war will develop.

The most important point is that there is only one reason for it and that is the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Fuelling this is the fact that the global economic system has been found to be severely flawed. The whole process of a world entirely dependent on economic growth is flawed.

The notion of the main corporate objective being to provide shareholders with ongoing value is flawed.

The way the world is run on the basis of money being far more important than morality is flawed.

The Real Sadness

And the more the haves continue to apply Band Aids to the gaping wounds of the economic system, the more militant the have-nots will become.

The real sadness is that anyone who speaks out against flaws in the economic system is usually dismissed as a communist, socialist or trouble-maker.

What worries me is that it does not take rocket science to realised that the biggest danger the world faces today is the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. And no government in the world seems to be doing anything about changing things.

It is almost as though politicians and the world’s wealthy are all just hoping that the status quo will remain in place during their lifetimes and that they will be able to continue enjoying the power, the glory and the wealth and leave the cataclysmic consequences to the next generation.

The opportunists

I am not convinced that the time frame for the third world war is that long.

Add to this mix, that third player – the opportunists. These are the people who disrupt memorial services to make political statements; these are the people who fan the flames of anger to score political points; these are the people who prey on the poor, to rob them and con them out of their paltry wages; these are the peple who make money out of misery by supplying drugs and weapons.

These are the people who will stop at nothing to enrich themselves.

As I said, it is going to be a dirty, bloody third world war.

First Published in South Africa’s News24

The latest meeting on the ongoing crisis in eastern DRC was held in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, between 14 and 16 August.

Here, the army chiefs and defence ministers of the member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) attempted to hammer out the details of a ‘neutral’ force to be deployed in DRC to combat rebel group M23.

This force had been proposed and debated at previous ICGLR meetings in Addis Ababa and Kampala, though the specifics were left unresolved.

Regional Tensions

A significant hurdle to finding a regional solution has been the implication of Rwanda in the fomenting of this crisis.

Rwanda was accused by the UN Group of Experts on the Congo of supporting M23, which is a re-incarnation of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People) rebel group that Kigali backed in 2008.

Rwanda has subsequently seen aid contributions from many close allies cut or frozen. There have also been rumours of Ugandan links to M23. Both Rwanda and Uganda deny supporting the rebels.

This has meant that conflict, rather than consensus, has been in abundance at these summits.

During the Kampala meeting Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni – presidents of Rwanda and Uganda respectively – pushed for a force made up of regional armies to fight M23.

DRC President Joseph Kabila, wary of his neighbours’ interests in the region, rejected that idea.

The Rwandan and Ugandan delegations at Goma repeated their preference for a regional solution, but the Congolese managed to obtain an ICGLR resolution to implement an international force.

At Goma it was announced that this force would comprise some 4,000 soldiers spread across North Kivu to fight ‘negative forces’, including but not limited to M23.

The defence ministers are due to submit a final report to Museveni, who is currently chairing the ICGLR, before 22 August.

However many questions were left unanswered in Goma – especially who will pay and who will contribute soldiers – and the conference was buzzing with rumour and speculation.

Conflicting Rumours

Baudouin Hamuli, the DRC national co-ordinator of the ICGLR, said that the troops of the international force could integrate into Monusco:

“We would send home 4,000 Monusco soldiers who are in places where they’re not needed, and replace them with 4,000 special-trained troops,” he said.

“Monusco would pay, but because we’re replacing departing soldiers their budget will not change.”

Another Congolese delegate indicated that the DRC was seeking solutions away from the ICGLR: “We are much closer to SADC [the South Africa Development Community] than these ICGLR countries,” he said on condition of anonymity.

“SADC countries are ready to send troops which would integrate into Monusco. We also want Monusco’s mandate to be more aggressive, so they can fight M23.”

However Roger Meece, the head of Monusco, said no agreement had been made to integrate special troops and would not be drawn on potential changes to the peace-keepers’ mandate.

Passing the Buck

SADC has indeed been monitoring the situation in North Kivu, sending a fact-finding mission to eastern DRC at the beginning of this month, but their report does not suggest sending soldiers to fight M23.

Rather, the authors of the report say they could envisage a ‘special force’ to be deployed on the Congo/Rwanda border, but that any neutral force would require a mechanism to involve Rwanda and the ICGLR.

They too suggest a strengthening of Monusco’s civilian-protection mandate.

For now, then, no single organisation or country has made a concrete commitment to help the DRC combat M23. Talk of forces organised by the ICGLR or SADC remains just that: talk.

While the buck is passed from one organisation to the next, M23 numbers continue to swell through recruitment and defections from the national army.

The Congolese people are understandably frustrated. “We’ve had two decades of conferences and negotiation,” said Thomas, a Goma resident. “We don’t need more talking – we just need peace.”