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Tribalism a Curse, Tuju Tells Africa

The Nation (Nairobi)
NEWS
January 30, 2006
Posted to the web January 30, 2006

By Kevin J Kelly
New York
Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju has described tribalism as a curse, and
called for African efforts to prevent ethnic differences from degenerating into
armed conflicts.
He was speaking at a UN Security Council debate on security among Kenya's
neighbours in New York on Friday.
Mr Tuju was among 45 speakers at a day-long session that ended with an approval
of a resolution condemning militias in the Great Lakes region.
The action came days after Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army killed eight
UN peace-keepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Security Council urged that an international conference on the Great Lakes
be convened in Nairobi as soon as possible. The regional summit was to take
place in the city last month.
Mr Tuju noted that Kenya has 42 ethnic groups, and that tensions among what are
usually called tribes must be addressed before they erupt into violence
requiring "fire brigade actions" by peace-keepers.

   

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