Kenya’s President, William Ruto has revealed that nearly 16 different conflicts are raging on Africa continent, which are from the Western Sahel to the Horn of Africa in the East, and from the Lake Chad basin to the Great Lakes region.
Ruto who disclosed in his remarks at the Summit on Peace for Ukraine in Switzerland on Friday added that Africa’s many long- running and long-forgotten wars continue unabated, wreaking unimaginable devastation on a daily basis.
According to him, “In the Sudan, a senseless war continues to cause death, destruction, hopelessness among people, threatening the integrity of that country. Regionally, four of the top 10 countries facing acute food insecurity as a result of conflict in Horn of Africa.
“In West Africa, the number of schools closed reached over 13,250, depriving more than 2.5 million children of an education. As of June 2023, nearly 7,800 primary schools, attended by 1.4 million children were closed in the Sahel region”, he said.
Kenya’s President pressed further that cumulatively, millions of lives have been lost, while 40.4million Africans have been forcibly displaced. “Since 2011, the number of newly displaced people has been rising steadily and, in 2022-23 alone, stood at over 3.2 million people.
“Today, a farmer in rural Kenya is acutely aware that there is war in Ukraine because the cost of fertiliser has gone up and it now takes 45 days longer for consignments to reach our port because shipping routes have changed”
