Kenyan to lead relaunched Nyerere peace institution

Arusha. A Kenyan national, Mr Kipyego Cheluget, has been appointed the director of the recently relaunched Nyerere Centre for Peace Research. He once served as the deputy secretary general of the East African Community (EAC) responsible for projects and programmes in 2001 to 2007.

From there on, Dr Cheluget joined the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) as assistant secretary general until recently.

The announcement of the CEO of the research outfit was announced during the relaunching at the EAC premises in Arusha last week.

“The person, who will head the centre, is Dr Kipyego Cheluget,” Prof Warren Haffar from Arcadia University in the US told The Citizen.

The Nyerere Centre is a joint collaboration between the EAC and Arcadia University’s International Peace and Conflict Resolution Programme.

Also roped in is the American Graduate School for International Relations and Diplomacy (AGS) in Paris, France.

The two academic institutions will support the centre largely in peace and security and good governance research. The support will extend to matters pertaining to joint common foreign policy pursuits to promote regional integration and development.

The centre will conduct policy research and analysis as well as provide decision-makers with training and support, such as civil society organisations (CSOs).

The EAC will be supported to build capacity and promote the peaceful settlement of the conflict in the seven-member bloc.

Its training docket will focus on personnel from diverse backgrounds including defence and security, diplomacy and international relations. Others are officials involved in conflict management, immigration, disaster management and human rights programmes.

Speaking on his new role, Dr Cheluget said he was happy to work at the centre named after a Pan Africanist he admired most.

“I first met Mwalimu Nyerere in India in 1994. I admired the way he meticulously articulated on regional integration among the nations,” he said.

He said when he joined the EAC, he was shown a building where the Community was nurtured in the 1960s by the region’s founding fathers, including Nyerere.

The building, which is within the EAC compound, now hosts the centre which was initially launched in 2007 but went off the radar after operating for only a few years.