Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, defended, this Friday, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the cantonment of the M23 forces, their disarmament and, consequently, their reintegration into Congolese society ( DRC).
President João Lourenço, who presides over the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), and is the African Union (AU) mediator in the crisis between Rwanda and the DRC, spoke at the meeting of the Union’s Peace and Security Council Africa (AU), taking place on the sidelines of the 36th AU Summit of Heads of State and Government.
According to the Angolan statesman, a ceasefire had already been achieved, following which the M23 forces should have been cantoned, disarmed and, consequently, reintegrated into Congolese society.
Regrettably, he said, the only positive step that took place throughout that process was, in fact, the ceasefire. “Therefore, we were never able to take the next step that was required, which was to define and prepare the cantonment areas”.
According to President João Lourenço, in today’s meeting the focus would be on the need to define the cantonment areas, who should indicate them, prepare them, “with what sources of funding can we count on to maintain the M23 personnel in these cantonment areas as long as necessary, until they are reintegrated into Congolese society”.
“I think that our function, today, should revolve around this point, basically areas of cantonment, their preparation and funding to keep the troops of the M23 stationed”, he stated.
President João Lourenço, who is also AU Champion for Peace and Reconciliation”, reiterated the need to find the best paths for Peace in the East of the DRC.
“This is a process that has already been a long one, it went through Luanda, Kenya, Washington DC, where we met last December, once again in Bujumbura. We take advantage of the opportunity to be together again, here in Addis Ababa, to see if we can unblock the problems that unfortunately persist on the ground”, stressed President João Lourenço.
For his part, the President of Burundi, Evarist Ndayishimiye, whose country hosted the last meeting on the situation in the east of the DRC, said that peace in the region is an absolute urgency, for whom everything must be done to make it a fact in the region .
The deteriorating situation in eastern DRC requires urgent attention from the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security Council, in particular, based on its mandate with a focus on promoting peace and stability in Africa.
The PSC is analyzing the need for broader involvement of the AU, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, SADC and UN in efforts to silence the guns in the DRC.
A summit organized in Angola on November 23, 2022, called for a ceasefire and the consequent withdrawal of the opposing forces that are on the ground.
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