Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned that lack of trust remains one of the biggest obstacles to peace efforts across Africa.
Speaking during Johannesburg Arbitration Week 2026, Kenyatta said that while leaders and mediators may succeed in reaching agreements during conflicts, keeping those agreements alive is often much harder because trust has already been damaged.
He explained that broken trust between governments and citizens, as well as among communities themselves, makes lasting peace difficult to achieve.
Kenyatta made the remarks during the “Statesmen in Dialogue: Leadership and Dispute Resolution in Africa” high-level panel. The session brought together former African heads of state to discuss leadership, governance, and conflict resolution across the continent.
Drawing from his experience in peace efforts in South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenyatta said solving conflict requires more than signing peace deals.
He stressed that strong governance, inclusion of all groups, and fair sharing of resources are necessary for stability.
According to him, many disputes continue because some communities feel left out of decision-making or believe resources are unfairly distributed. He noted that unless such concerns are addressed, peace agreements may remain weak and temporary.
Kenyatta also raised concern over growing division within African institutions. He said the continent has become more fragmented, which has reduced the sense of unity that once shaped early Pan-Africanism.
He stressed that African countries must work more closely together to face shared political and economic challenges.
He reminded leaders that unity should not be seen as just an idea, but as something necessary for the continent’s future. “Unity is not just an ideal, it is a necessity,” he said.
The three-day forum was hosted by the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa under the theme “Arbitration in a fragmented global order: the future of trade, investment and sustainable development.”
Other high-level participants included former Presidents Joaquim Chissano, Goodluck Jonathan, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who also shared their views on leadership and dispute resolution in Africa.
