It is refreshing to see that regional bodies are at the forefront of handling issues that have nagged the East African Community (EAC) like illegal exploitation of natural resources.
The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), is a body that stands for peace, security, stability and development and boasts of a membership of 13 countries
These include Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia recently held a moratorium in Nairobi aimed at addressing this issue.
Another issue that ought to be addressed urgently is that of sexual abuse of women and the girl child. Recently in the Congo, there was a report of the rape of over one hundred women, and in Kenya, hundreds of teachers have been fired for sexually abusing girl children aged under 15.
It is your guess and mine how many children these reprobates have affected. This is a disease that has to be purged.
East Africa, on the most part, depends on agriculture both for sustainance and foreign exchange. It is the women who form the backbone of agricultural production, so anything that hurts women ought to be addressed with the utmost urgency.
Education of the girl child is of paramount importance to development, and when we find ourselves in a situation where this is being reversed by reckless miscreants posing as teachers, we have to act swiftly and decisively.
When justice is not being seen to be done, impunity follows and we cannot afford as a region, to have this go on.
The ICGLR, the EAC, COMESA, the African Union and other such regions should be in the forefront of fighting anything that upsets our march towards self sustenance and development. That is paramount!
