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WORLD NEWS Monday 9 March 2020

In Uganda, a peace festival seeks

end to violence in Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — war that officially ended noted with pleasure that
Young people played tug in 2018, but still simmers. there were no police at the
of war and others shook That conflict has created event, saying that meant
their bodies to crowd- Africa's worst refugee crisis peace. For Gerry Ssebun-
pleasing music as a scorch- since the 1994 genocide ya, a dance instructor and
ing African sun set near the in Rwanda. Africa Peace mental health advocate
Ugandan capital. A tipsy Zones, a network of volun- whose family was affected
poet drew loud cheers by teers who organized the by war in northern Uganda,
repeatedly reciting "One weekend peace gather- peace festivals are a "fan-
day. Someday. Could be ing in Uganda in support of tastic way" to reach out to In this photo taken Saturday, March 7, 2020, Ugandans take
this day." the AU's mission, acknowl- young people in need of part in painting activities during the Mara Mara peace festival in
Others painted their fac- edged the task at hand sense of communion. q Kampala, Uganda.
es, ate barbecued goat, as "ambitious," citing chal- Associated Press
played chess and prac- lenges including gender-
ticed yoga. The good-na- based violence, unemploy-
tured gathering attracted ment and climate change.
scores of people in support "And while sustainable so-
of the day when all of Afri- lutions will require actions
ca would be free of armed from a cross-section of so-
violence. ciety, we believe that as
The Mara Mara peace fes- Africa's young people, we
tival drew inspiration from hold the key to building
the African Union's decla- a continent free of all vio-
ration of 2020 as the year lence," the group said in a
for "silencing the guns" on statement. "Some of Af-
a continent that has long rica's strongest attributes —
faced violence ranging tolerance, kindness, gen-
from civil war to ethnic ri- erosity, resilience, problem
valries and rebel insurgen- solving and a team spirit
cies. In an effort to reduce — are the very foundation
the number of illegal weap- of negotiation, mediation
ons in circulation across and reconciliation as alter-
the continent, the AU has natives to violence."
said there will be an am- Uganda has enjoyed rela-
nesty during the month of tive peace for nearly 20
September when illegally- years, since the end of
owned guns can be turned a deadly rebellion in the
over to local authorities. country's north. But the East
Leaders of the African African country has had
Union, a continent-wide spots of political violence,
bloc that is often accused with the security forces ac-
of not doing enough to end cused of cracking down
armed violence, have said on opposition activities.
it will reach out to youths to President Yoweri Museveni
discourage them from tak- has been in power since
ing up arms. 1986 and is trying to extend
Africa still has multiple con- his rule further, prompting
flict zones ranging from Is- concerns about possible
lamic extremist violence in violence around elections
West Africa's Sahel region in 2021. Young Ugandans
and in parts of Nigeria to such as William Musinguzi,
armed rebellion by militias a painter at the festival
in eastern Congo. In South who drew a map of Africa
Sudan, the world's new- with the red spots indicat-
est country, hundreds of ing those countries battling
thousands of people were insurgencies and civil war,
killed and over 1 million dis- cite mistrust of authorities
placed by a five-year civil with guns. The 25-year-old