Angola leaves the DR Congo crisis mediation

The Angolan Presidency issued a statement on Monday, March 24, announcing that the government of Angola is terminating its mediation role in the ongoing conflict between the Alliance fleuve Congo (AFC/M23) insurrection and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Almost two months after taking over as the current Chairman of the African Union, Angola’s Presidency clarified that it has decided to abdicate its role in mediating the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo “in order to more comprehensively focus on the general priorities established by the continental organization.”

“These priorities pertain to infrastructure, continental free trade, the fight against epidemics, endemics, and pandemics, economic and social development, and justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations,” the statement continued. “They also include peace and security throughout the continent as a whole.”

The African Union Commission and the Presidency of Angola will work together in the next few days to determine which nation’s Head of State, with assistance from SADC, the East African Community, and the mediators, will mediate the dispute between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At a combined leaders’ conference of the East African Community and Southern African Development Community in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on February 8, it was requested that more facilitators from other African areas assist the process under the direction of the AU.

Additionally, Angola emphasized its long-standing belief on the necessity of direct talks between the rebels and the Congolese government, saying it “worked towards this goal and secured the consent of both parties for the first round to take” in Luanda on March 18 of today.

Citing meddling by Western nations, particularly the EU, led by Belgium, and some international organizations, the rebels withdrew last Monday from previously planned direct peace negotiations with the Congolese government in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on March 18. They claimed that these parties were “deliberately working to sabotage peace efforts” in DR Congo and prevent the long-awaited talks. According to rebel spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, “direct dialogue is seriously compromised and any progress is prevented by the successive sanctions imposed on our members, including those adopted on the eve of the Luanda discussions.”

But according to Angola’s statement, “a number of factors, including some outside factors unrelated to the ongoing African process, led to the last-minute cancellation of this event.”

In order to silence the guns and bring about enduring peace, we applaud any efforts by the UN, other international organizations, and well-meaning nations to resolve the numerous conflicts that still exist on our continent—so long as they are appropriately coordinated with the appointed mediators, the Peace and Security Council, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

The security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo was to be discussed during the second joint meeting of the heads of state and government of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Monday, March 24. President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, who also serves as the Chairperson of SADC, and President William Ruto of Kenya, who chairs the EAC, will co-chair the second joint session of regional leaders, which will be held virtually this time. An EAC communique states that the report delivered during the joint EAC-SADC ministerial meeting on March 17 in Harare, Zimbabwe, will be discussed at the joint Summit.

The ministerial conference on March 17 promised to implement a joint path to address the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately.
It was decided at the ministerial meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe, that the roadmap would include a thorough strategy that included both military and political operations.

These steps are necessary to resolve the complicated security and humanitarian situation in DR Congo in the short, medium, and long term, according to Amon Murwira, the chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade at the time.