By Anne Mugisa and Okello Jabweli COUNTRIES in the Great Lakes region have been asked to develop collective strategies to solve their individual and regional problems. Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere said yesterday that Uganda’s problems cannot be solved without solving its neigbhours’ problems, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kabwegyere was speaking at the opening of the regional conference on the Great Lakes region at the International Conference centre in Kampala. He said the political and development problems of the regional countries were complex and intertwined. He said the concerned countries must collectively rethink their agendas to see where they went wrong since independence. Six countries have converged on Kampala to chart out a development programme before a presidential symposium to start on April 7. Scholars, politicians and the public yesterday began considering several papers in preparation for the symposium in honour of Tanzania’s former president, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. Nyanja Musoke hailed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for championing the dream of an African Union (AU). Musoke proposed the use of force to realise the union, saying African leaders will never willingly give up their power. “This union may not be achieved at conferences. For almost 40 years, the OAU has come to naught. Those who wield power over other men will never willingly cede power,” he said.