Chronicle Editor
Wallace Musakanyi, Correspondent
ZIMBABWE is a major source of motivation for many countries as far as peace and security issues are concerned.
The country has been parading on the regional stage amply demonstrating its strong commitment towards the elimination of obstacles that affect the realisation of peace at sub regional, that is Sadc level, as well as at the continental level at large.
On a more progressive note, Zimbabwe was elected to the 15 member African Union Peace and Security Council at the recently ended 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The African Union Peace and Security Council comprises three countries from central Africa, two countries from north Africa, four states from west Africa, three countries from east Africa and the remaining three from southern Africa.
Zimbabwe together with other African countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, Burundi, Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Congo, Senegal, Namibia and South Africa were elected to be part of the AU’s Peace and Security Council.
The organ is critical to the realisation of peace, eradication of conflicts and handling continental security threats in form of both state and non state actors.
More so, the council is obliged to prevent disputes and conflicts as well as policies that might trigger genocides and crimes against humanity, undertaking peace making and peacebuilding efforts, authorising of peace support missions as well as implementing AU’s common defence policy.
Zimbabwe’s election to this pivotal organ is a major boost to Zimbabwe’s participation in Africa’s international relations as well as regional global governance taking cognisance of the fact that the peace and security infrastructure of the country are water tight and highly effective especially in repelling security threats coupled with a well-oiled and disciplined army.
This will also widen Zimbabwe’s contribution towards the promotion of peace and security on the continent against a backdrop of the high levels of insecurities in general and terrorism in particular throughout Africa.
This is witnessed by a devastating increase of Boko Haram’s activities in West African countries like Nigeria, Niger and Chad.
Al Shabaab has also plagued the East African region while Islamic fundamentalism has also been disturbing North African countries like Libya.
As if this is not enough, there has also been worrisome records of unconstitutional changes of governments throughout the continent in violation of the Constitutive Act. This is especially brought to book by five military coups that have happened in Africa within the last 18 months in countries like Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and in Burkina Faso less than a month ago.
Zimbabwe therefore, will actively amplify the peaceful coexistence of nations at a regional level as this also dovetails well with its foreign policy objective of ensuring sovereignty and equality among nations.
The sovereignty of countries is usually threatened by security threats and Zimbabwe’s wealth of expertise in peacebuilding, military interventions as well as conflict and dispute resolution will be a plus towards the realisation of peace and security at continental level.
In addition to the above, Zimbabwe’s track record in terms of defence and security is clear and impressive, it has made worthy contributions in ensuring the realisation of peace and security throughout Africa.
Lest we forget the Bakara Arms Clearance operation in Somalia, an initiative that was spearheaded by the Zimbabwe National Army in 1993 in order to clear weapons in the Bakara Market in central Mogadishu with the primary purpose being to restore law and order among political parties. The mission was a success as it led to the stamping out of arms sales in the Bakara Market.
More interestingly, the unwavering commitment of Zimbabwe towards peace and security was also professed by the Operation Sovereign Legitimacy which was marked with Zimbabwe’s deployment of troops to DRC from 1998 to 2002 in light of unrest in the Sadc member State.
Zimbabwe has also been making frantic efforts to foster peace by sending peacekeeping missions to needy countries and States like Sudan and Somalia, among others.
The elevation of Zimbabwe to the AU’s Peace and Security Council might also be of higher significance to its neighbouring Mozambique which has been plagued by the on-going insurgency which started in October 2017.
By virtue of these two southern African countries, that is Zimbabwe and Mozambique being tied by similar historical experiences and the broader pan-African ideology, it gives Zimbabwe the mandate of championing Mozambique’s security concerns to the highest security decision body on the continent which will positively contribute towards the maintenance of peace.
While the Covid-19 pandemic is also a pressing security threat within the auspices of the New Security Agenda as well as an integral part of the human security’s health security continent, Zimbabwe is going to escalate the fight against the pandemic as one of the countries that have successfully managed to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.
The Peace and Security Council is set to harvest much from Zimbabwe’s chapter in its quest to eradicate and deal away with the pandemic and the threats it poses to both the individuals and the member states as well.
Zimbabwe has been consistent in terms of its modus operandi as far and peace and security issues are concerned, it remains unshakeable as demonstrated by its high levels of commitment towards the realisation of peace and security in Southern Africa and beyond.
Its election into the Africa’s highest security decision making body the Peace and Security Council is a noble initiative considering the wealth of experience that Zimbabwe has amply demonstrated within the confines of peacekeeping, peacebuilding and conflict resolution efforts throughout Africa.
Wallace Musakanyi is a writer and researcher who can be contacted on [email protected]
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