Senegal: "The absence of war does not necessarily mean peace", says ex-mayor Robert Sagna
Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - Absence of war is not necessarily peace, former Ziguinchor Mayor Robert Sagna, and head of the Reflection Group on Peace in Casamance (GRPC), said on Saturday in Ziguinchor, southern Senegal.
He made the statement after a meeting with some village leaders in the region. The meeting was held to take stock of the peace process in Casamance and find strategies to consolidate the lull in the region for several years now.
''This meeting, which brought together all the village chiefs of the region, aimed to exchange views not only on the problems that concern them, but also on the problems that concern Casamance. By inviting the GRPC to come here for a working session, the main objective was to take stock of the situation of peace in Casamance, to analyze and to propose solutions which can reinforce the lull that we know and which can accelerate the peace process in Casamance.
"It is true, there is peace, but there must be peace. The absence of war is not necessarily peace, peace is not the absence of war,'' Sagna warned.
He explained that the main concern of these village chiefs is to be aware of what is going on, to be informed so that they can contribute to what is being done to arrive at a final peace.
''They acknowledged that there is a certain amount of information on the state of play ... Many of them acknowledged that they were not informed of the real situation on the ground; This is what the conflict is in, where is the MFDC, where is the government and where are the people?'' he said.
The village chiefs made proposals not only to improve the situation, but also to speed up communication. They especially formulated a recommendation so that what happened with the notables of the region of Ziguinchor, also happens in the regions of Sédhiou and Kolda, that is to say a similar meeting gathering all the village chiefs and leaders of these two regions to discuss the peace process.
Undertaking to meet the village chiefs of the two other regions, Mr. Sagna pointed out that the GRPC is today the main intermediary between the MFDC and the government of Senegal in order to reach a final peace in Casamance.
The approach chosen by Sagna is to build this peace from the villages of the region by fully involving village chiefs, religious leaders and customaries with the active involvement of MFDC combatants.
According to him, "each fighter of the MFDC comes from one of the villages of the region, therefore this one has relatives who can influence him to lay down their arms."
-0- PANA MAD/IS/KND/VAO 17Feb2020
