Reports filtering in from Kinshasa indicate that the DRC and Rwanda discussions held in Luanda, Angola recently are on the right track and believed could bear good results very soon.
On Friday, President Felix Tshisekedi summoned cabinet members for the 130th gathering at his office popularly referred to as the Cité of the African Union.
“The Council of Ministers was informed of Luanda meeting at the initiative of the Angolan President, designated mediator of the African Union, and within the framework of the Luanda and Nairobi processes, discussions between representatives of the Congolese governments and Rwandan, following the meetings that President Joao Lourenço had with the President Tshisekedi, as well as President Kagame,” said the government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya.
The High-level delegations from the governments of Rwanda and DRC met in Angola and analysed the issue of security and peace in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to a statement cited by the Angolan News Agency (Angop), the ministerial meeting took place in a cordial, pleasant and serene atmosphere, marked by optimism regarding the achievement of lasting peace. The ministers agreed on the occasion to hold a second meeting, at ministerial level, in a few days, still in the Angolan capital.
“The meeting aimed to relaunch the bases of constructive dialogue and the process of peace, stability and security in the DRC, in accordance with the decisions reached during meetings held in Luanda by the President Lourenço and his counterparts from the DRC and Rwanda,” according to Angop news agency.
The mediation led by the Angolan president seems to be going in the right direction, especially since after having met separately with Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame in Luanda.
Kagame and Tshisekedi according to Angop are in favour of a one-on-one meeting to finally achieve a resolution of the diplomatic crisis between the two states.
It is up to mediation to find the date, the place and to harmonize the terms of reference of the meeting, especially since Tshisekedi set his conditions, but also Kagame.
In this context, the head of Congolese diplomacy, Christophe Lutundula, carrying a message from Félix Tshisekedi, was received in Luanda by the Angolan president, João Lourenço.
Angola’s approach is supported by the international community and other organizations at the continental level.
During a telephone interview on Wednesday March 20, 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron encouraged his Angolan counterpart, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, to continue his approach and recalled the need to achieve a “negotiated solution” between the two parties in conflict.
