African peace ambassadors to walk away with Sh5.7m

Mediators of conflicts could walk away with Sh5.7 million in a new plan meant to encourage dialogue in Africa.

The Macky Sall Prize is named after the Senegalese president.

The €50,000-award by the Independent Centre for Research and Initiatives for Dialogue, a Geneva-based NGO but founded by Burundian journalist Deo Hakizimana, will be first given in September.

The prize committee includes Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, King Mohamed VI of Morocco, former Secretary-General of La Francophonie Abdou Diof and Benin Unicef goodwill ambassador Angelique Kidjo.

The founders of the organisation hope the inaugural award will influence communities to discuss their differences rather than fight.

PEACE

CIRID Secretary-General Joël Hakizimana told the Nation the organisation wants to use the prize to influence leaders to support dialogue in places where guns, pangas and bombs have not brought peace.

Hakizimana said communities have been enslaved by chaos and would be more productive if there was peace.

“We can only imagine how it feels to be released from the pain of not knowing why justice cannot prevail in Burundi,” he said.

The organisation was launched in 1996, at the time influenced by desire to bring peace to Burundi. Burundi has had violence since independence and the country would eventually get peace through what became known as the Arusha Accords.

CIRID has held the Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (Ecosoc) since 2008. Yet the East African nation has had bouts of violence since 2005 when President Pierre Nkurunziza came to power.

CONFLICT

Those eligible for the prize are persons, groups or institutions involved in the areas of “democratic governance of our institutions, the consolidation of peace in post-conflict zones and the contributions given to solve post-electoral dilemmas.”

Until this month, CIRID mainly worked with prominent leaders in West Africa. On Tuesday, CIRID will launch the Prize in Nairobi in what Mr Hakizimana said will be to open doors for further collaboration with regional leaders.

The prize was named after the Senegalese President because of his role in bringing stability to neighbours Burkina Faso and the Gambia. It will be presented in Geneva in September this year.

Senegal, the only country in West Africa, not to experience a coup or an attempted coup in a neighbourhood where everyone else has, is seen as a good example of how leaders can resolve their differences through dialogue.