Madame Rosalie Nawira, Mayor of Zemio in south eastern Central African Republic (CAR), plays a key role reducing tensions in her community affected by the Lord Army Resistance (LRA) conflict. More recently she has been tackling the impact of a civil war between Séléka rebels and government forces, which is exacerbating community relations along sectarian lines.

Trading in the region

Born in 1968 to a successful trader, Rosalie’s parents died when she was young (her father when she was 12 and her mother four years later). Having learnt her father’s trade during childhood, (he was a successful trader of cigarettes in the region– including selling to people from Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo who would travel to buy from him), Rosalie followed in his footsteps and became a successful trader herself. She traded all sorts of goods from foodstuffs to clothes, bicycle parts to ivory and would welcome traders from different parts of the country, making them feel at ease in her home.

In 1999, an agricultural bazaar was organised in Zemio, for which the Minister of Commerce travelled from Bangui. Rosalie was entrusted with the management of the finances for the bazaar. Based on the success of her accounting skills, honesty and credibility with traders and the community, the Minister, upon his return to Bangui, made sure she was appointed Mayor.

Speaking up for women's rights

Rosalie used this position to become a passionate advocate and spokesperson for women’s rights. She started to connect women’s organisations with local communities. Her initial involvement with JUPEDEC, a Central African peacebuilding and development organisation was followed by a collaboration with a group of women to form Femme Action Plus, an organisation working to empower women and support returnees from the LRA.

As the organisation’s coordinator in Zemio, Rosalie works to prevent violence and ensure her community’s resilience. Her trajectory has been supported by Conciliation Resources through training, exchange visits, mentoring and accompaniment. In particular, she cites an exchange visit to Gulu in Northern Uganda as being an enlightening moment. Upon her return from Gulu, Rosalie mobilised 10,000 people for a week of cultural and social events designed to celebrate peace and bring people together. She also attended two capacity building workshops on conflict prevention under the Capacities for Peace project in July and December 2014.

Conciliation Resources opened my eyes and added value to my work… They have supported us to raise the awareness of the population on the need to encourage the return and reintegration of LRA combatants, as well as mobilising women on how to confront these issues.

Madame Rosalie Nawira, Major of Zemio

Preventing conflict in her community

In December 2014, violence broke out between the local Muslim population and groups of youth. It was Rosalie’s persuasive speech, firm convictions and commitment to peacebuilding, which prevented the escalation of violence.

A group of 11 Muslims requested a local government document to be able to travel to Rafai to visit a religious burial site. Rosalie warned them that travelling in a large group would be dangerous, as Muslims in large groups often become targets of Anti-Balaka and other self-defence forces who associate them with the Séléka rebels. They chose to travel in any case.

Upon arrival in Rafai, the group found themselves unable to cross the river to visit the burial site because the ship workers had left for the day. They returned to Zemio, angry and frustrated. Tensions were raised and run-ins with youth on the way back to Zemio meant ‘arrow boys’ (local self-defence groups) began shooting. Houses of Christians were burnt in retaliation and several Muslims were killed.

In an effort to calm the situation, Rosalie tried to get the support of the local police and the Ugandan Armed Forces (there as part of the African Union Regional Task Force combatting the LRA) to approach the groups. But people were reluctant to get involved. The police, relying on Rosalie’s credibility as Mayor, instead asked her to go and disarm the youth. Faced with escalating tensions and little prospect of mitigation, Rosalie confronted both communities.

Initial reactions from both sides were accusatory and threatening. Appealing to their sensibilities, their humanity and their shared history (Christians and Muslims have lived alongside one another in CAR for decades with few problems), and asking them to not allow Bangui’s political problems to affect them, she succeeded in convincing them to lay down their arms. The groups even asked forgiveness for the violence their behaviour had sparked.

In spite of her illiteracy, Rosalie’s personality, confidence and principles have earned her great respect and credibility in the community. Following this incident, she was called upon by the National Transitional Council to give a testimony in Bangui as to her experience and brave contribution to peacebuilding.

All of this is because of the way Conciliation Resources works to build the capacities of woman and how they view the importance of the involvement of women in peace processes.