Tanzania proposes ways of beating terror in Africa

Dar es Salaam. In view of the seriousness of the threat posed by terrorism, Tanzania has highlighted three recommendations on how to address the challenge in Africa.

The suggestions, aired in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea over the weekend, include suppression of the financing of terrorists, exchange of information and establishment of regional counter terrorism centres.

The recommendations were made by Foreign Affairs minister Liberata Mulamula who was speaking on behalf of President Samia Suluhu Hassan in a two-day meeting of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government.

She stressed the importance of joint action, coordination and collaboration among member states for the eradication of terrorism on the continent.

“We (AU member countries) need to enhance cooperation and coordination in order to come up with a lasting solution to phenomenon of terrorism,” recommended Ms Mulamula.

The resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government; the expanding threat of terrorism and violent extremism across the continent, continue to negatively impact the peace, security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of African states.

To stem the upsurge of the increasingly worrying situation, African Heads of State and Government convened an Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes in Africa on May 28, 2022, in Malabo.

They assessed the persistent threats and current response mechanisms, as they sought to strengthen the collective security of Member States facing terrorism and violent extremism, as well as unconstitutional changes of governments.

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat noted that terrorism has continued to flourish, because of the lack of inter African solidarity with the countries fighting terrorism, and “because we do not honor our own commitments”.

He gave the example of the African Standby Force that has not yet become operational since its inception, and added that provision of the necessary means to existing armies, among others, would mean that Africa would not depend on foreign forces to fight terrorism.

The Chairperson also observed double standards that are applied by the international community in confronting challenges of terrorism in Africa vis-a-vis other parts of the world.

“We are witnessing the resurgence of a practice that we thought was gone forever with the advent of a new age, which promised a democratic era,” he said.

“The stability of democratic institutions is a guarantee for economic and social development. Conversely, breaks from democratic processes bring about the problems on the continent.”

Going by the African Union Algiers-based African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT), between 2012 and 2020, terrorist attacks on the continent increased four-fold.

While there were 508 terrorist strikes across the continent in 2012 that resulted in 2,563 casualties, the number of attacks increased to 2,034 in 2020 resulting in 8,631 deaths.