Pan African Forum (UK) Ltd joins the world in condemning the killings of over 50 people by Russian warplanes that struck Ukraine on Thursday morning. We believe in dialogue and containment as a means of preserving international peace.
Pan African Forum condoles with the families of those killed in this brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We further join millions and millions of peace lovers worldwide that have condemned and called on Russian to pull its forces out of Ukraine territory and return to negotiating table to break the impasse.
The world and especially the UNSC has watched haplessly as the conflict escalates day by day and we are dismayed by the actions of a moribund body of UNSC that always have double standards and comes in too late and does very little when civilians have perished.
On this route, we ask for the Expansion of UNSC and change of substance where Africa must have a say in the UNSC. We further call upon African countries to be aware of the obstacles and challenges that our nations faced in the past and avoid the cold syndrome that brought us misery after independence in the 1960s.
The only route left to stop World War 3 is to start reviewing what our founding fathers of NAM had in mind. We must stand to criticize with “positive neutrality”.We must think of re-organizing the NAM called NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT which can save Africa from the ripple effects of wars in Europe or elsewhere.
Pan African Forum further calls on the Western nations not to isolate Russia by heaping on its SANCTIONS that hurt the ordinary people and force the regime to become more autocratic. The Western Nations especially NATO countries must not stop engaging the Russians. STOPPING the engagement route could worsen things and lead to total isolation.
On this note, we equally and positively call upon the West not to impose hard sanctions that could harden President Putin’s resolve and make him more determined to continue with the war.
Pan African Forum as a peace-loving organization also takes this opportunity to ask the USA and European Union not to dish sanctions on Russia like the ones that have crippled an African country called Zimbabwe.
We all agree that Russia has invaded Ukraine but two wrongs don’t make one right . Dialogue and containment are the best options that hitting back which might escalate the conflict.
Dr. David Matsanga, Chairman/Founder Pan African Forum (UK) Ltd
