Africa-Press – Angola. The Peace Plan in the DRC and the re-establishment of good relations with Rwanda will be approved today, in Luanda, at the Summit to be held on the initiative of the President of the Republic, within the framework of Angolan mediation.
As Champion of Peace and Reconciliation of the African Union (AU) and Acting President of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICRGL), João Lourenço, invited Heads of State Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Félxi Tshisekedi of DRC, Évatiste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and former President of Kenya Uhuru Keniatta.
João Lourenço informed the African Union, during the meeting of the Board of the General Assembly, held this month by video conference, that dialogue is the only way to solve the conflict in the DRC and restore good relations between the two countries.
At today’s meeting, the Heads of State plus the former President of Kenya will assess, in depth, the DRC dossier, whose latest events led to the worsening of the situation in the East of that country and had as a political consequence the expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador from Kinshasa .
After a working visit by the Head of State to his counterparts in Rwanda and the DRC, it was agreed this month that the parties would work towards a concertation within the scope of Angolan mediation. Thus, the Governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda recognized that the political solution to the security crisis currently being experienced in the eastern region of the DRC is the Roadmap for Luanda, a document approved during the tripartite summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), which addressed, in the Angolan capital, on the 6th of July this year, the pacification process in that area.
The information was provided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, at the end of the meeting that President João Lourenço held with his counterpart Félix Tshisekedi, as part of the mediation process that he is carrying out, at the behest of the African Union, to remedy the prevailing climate of tension, at the moment, between the DRC and Rwanda. “There is a common denominator which is the Roadmap of Luanda and, as a result, everyone agrees that the Roadmap of Luanda is the political solution”, stressed the head of Angolan diplomacy, recalling that this same instrument is recognized by the region and also by by the United Nations Security Council itself.
Téte António clarified that this is not a new initiative, but the practical modality of implementation is that it must adapt to all situations that may occur. Regarding the meeting that João Lourenço held with Félix Tshisekedi at the Presidential Palace of Kinshasa, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs referred that the same did not differ from what he had with Paul Kagame, in Kigali, Rwanda, within the scope of mediation, given the worsening situation in the East of the DRC.
“It is about adapting the mediation to the prevailing situation in the East of the DRC”, stressed Téte António, explaining that conciliating in this case means bringing initiatives that can boost the implementation of the Roadmap of Luanda. “We are not going to go into the details of the discussions of Kigali and Kinshasa. President João Lourenço has concrete proposals for the parties to analyze at the appropriate time and see how they can move forward ”, he stressed. On his side, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DRC, Christophe Lutundula Pen ́Apala, also told the press that President Félix Tshisekedi expressed gratitude to the Angolan statesman for his commitment as a mediator in the search for solutions aimed at peace for the Congolese people.
Before his trip to Kinshasa, the Angolan statesman visited Kigali, where he also held a meeting with his counterpart Paul Kagame, and addressed the same subject.
Tension between DRC and Rwanda
The climate of tension between the DRC and Rwanda has re-emerged in the relationship between the two countries in recent months, after the resumption, last March, of fighting between the DRC army and the rebel group Movimento 23 de Março, more known as M23. The two countries accuse each other of supporting a military insurgency to destabilize each other, with Kinshasa denouncing Kigali’s alleged military support for the M23, an accusation denied by Rwanda. The level of tension between the two countries rose even more, after the expulsion of the ambassador of Rwanda from the DRC.
Get to know some points of the Luanda Route
On July 6, 2022, the Tripartite Summit between the Republic of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, held in Luanda, adopted the Roadmap of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region on the Pacification Process of the Region East of the DRC. The document became known as the Luanda Roadmap for Peace in the East of the DRC. Here are some points contained in the document signed by the Presidents of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, and of Angola, João Lourenço, in his capacity as also president of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region and representative of the African Union :
• Establishment of a climate of trust between the States of the Great Lakes Region
• Creation of ideal conditions for dialogue and political concertation, with a view to resolving the security crisis in eastern DRC.
• Normalization of political and diplomatic relations between the DRC and Rwanda,
• Immediate cessation of hostilities.
• Creation of an Ad-Hoc Observation Mechanism, led by an Angolan general to monitor compliance with agreements
• Immediate withdrawal from positions occupied by the M23 in Congolese territory, in line with the final communiqué from Nairobi.
• Creating conditions for the return of refugees,
• Reactivation of the joint intelligence team to define the practical modalities and the program to fight the FDRL, in coordination with the presidency of the CIRGL and the Nairobi Process.
• Creation of regional mechanisms to fight against the illicit exploitation of natural resources in the region, with emphasis on the territory of the DRC.
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