Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, expressed, this Saturday, in Nairobi, Kenya, confidence in the re-establishment of peace in the Great Lakes.
The Angolan Head of State, as acting president of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), champion of Peace and Reconciliation of the African Union and mediator, has carried out a set of initiatives to put an end, mainly, to the tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
Speaking at a press conference, as part of his official visit to Kenya, he said that the two countries have been working together to achieve this goal.
He said that it is a complicated process, but not impossible and for that reason “we are optimistic that we will be able to find peace not only for the DRC, but in the entire Great Lakes region.
He added that this conflict has regrettably affected the good relations between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
“We are working together to reverse the situation, because so far, we have seen positive results, but we have reached a point where we cannot stop, as we need to take the next step”, he reinforced.
Regarding the impasse, the Angolan Statesman said that it has to do with the M23 cantonment.
Meanwhile, he said, if this is not achieved, we run the risk that the gains achieved so far could be lost, because what was achieved was at the cost of a great sacrifice from everyone, namely the mediators, Congolese authorities, Rwanda and the M23.
He clarified the Luanda and Nairobi processes, detailing that Angola received a mandate from the African Union to deal only with the M23 case, while Kenya must act with matters related to other rebel groups.
Angola, within the scope of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), has been facilitating dialogue between the parties that allowed the adoption of the Luanda Roadmap on the pacification process in the eastern region of the DRC.
Within the framework of the Luanda Roadmap, the joint action plan for resolving the security crisis in eastern DRC was adopted, within which it was agreed to canton the M23 elements in Congolese territory and begin the repatriation of all refugees as well as the disarmament and reintegration process.
Angola, as mediator in the process, committed to deploying a contingent of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), to guarantee the safety of M23 elements in the cantonment centers.
Angola, DRC, Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are part of the CIRGL.
The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, ended this Saturday a two-day visit to Kenya, at the invitation of his counterpart, William Ruto, as part of strengthening cooperation.
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