NEWS: Uganda 17th most peaceful in Africa

Uganda 17th most peaceful in Africa

Tuesday, 2nd June, 2009 from NEW VISION

UGANDA’s state of ‘peacefulness’ is still low, according to a report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace yesterday. The Global Peace Index (GPI) report released at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, shows that out of the 144 countries surveyed, Uganda ranked at position 103. In the league of Africa countries, Uganda ranks 17th out of 31 countries sampled. The most peaceful countries in Africa are Botswana, Malawi, Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique. Tanzania leads the pack in East Africa being the 59th overall globally and seventh in the region. Post-genocide Rwanda, too, beats Uganda in the ranking, emerging 86th overall and 13th on the continent. Kenya wallows on the 113th position internationally and lies in the 19th in Africa. New Zealand ranked as the world’s most peaceful country, followed by Denmark and Norway. Rounding out the top five were Iceland in the the fourth place and Austria in the fifth position. Overall, the GPI revealed that small, stable and democratic countries ranked highest of the top 20 countries are in western and central Europe. Iraq was again the world’s least peaceful country in 2008, remaining in 144th position. Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and Sudan were the next least peaceful, ranking 143rd to 140th respectively. Bosnia and Herzegovina was the biggest riser, up 23 places to 50th position this year, while Madagascar saw the biggest fall in ranking (30 places) amid mounting political instability and violent demonstrations. The Index defines peace as “the absence of violence,” and looks at 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators of external and internal measures of peacefulness. Internally, these include homicides, the percentage of the population in jail, the availability of guns, and the level of organised crime. External indicators include the size of the military, exports and imports of arms, battlefield deaths, UN peacekeeping contributions and relations with neighbouring states. Uganda in the recent past had a spate of brutal murders and rape, aggravated robbery, human sacrifice, violent demonstrations and conmen fleecing people. Thousands of people are in detention. The country is still grappling with the disarmament programme in the Karamoja region while its porous borders allow for illegal guns from Sudan, Somalia and Kenya to enter. The guns are mainly used for cattle rustling. The Police investigations have in the past also incriminated some security operatives as accomplices in armed robberies. However, internal affairs minister Kirunda Kivejinja declined to comment on the report arguing he could not respond to an examination he did not set. “I am in charge and I know you are operating in a secure place. I would be concerned if they said you are operating in an insecure environment,” Kivejinja said in a telephone interview. “Peace can be measured and valued in economic terms,” Clyde McConaghy, president of the GPI, said. “There is a correlation between the economic crisis and the decline in peace. This confirms that there is a real-world economic value for peace,” McConaghy said.