Dakar – Angolan head of State João Lourenço said on Monday in Dakar, Senegal, that Angola has been working hard to transmit to the Great Lakes region its experience on conflict resolution and reconciliation
João Lourenço was speaking at the High Level Panel of the eighth Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, in his capacity as chairperson of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
The Head of State was answering questions on how to address the conflicts and achieve stability in Africa.
He recalled that Angola experienced 27 consecutive years of armed conflict – the longest in the world – involving not only Angolans among themselves but also with the intervention of neighbouring countries.
Despite everything, he said, the country finally managed to overcome “this long nightmare that only brought misfortune and destruction”.
“We made peace with those who were involved in this conflict and today we live peacefully with all the Angolan brothers who live their regular lives”, he added.
After that, he continued, Angola has been enjoying, since 2002 or precisely 20 years ago, a situation of peace, stability and reconciliation between brothers who were once in conflicts.
The head of State said based on this “successful history” that the country has sought to help “our brothers from neighbouring countries” in the Great Lakes, ECCAS and SADC regions, that still have insecurity issues.
As for the case of some countries in the two regions, the president said that their problem is not only related to the insecurity, due to terrorism, but because of disputes over natural resources or territories that should be respected.
He also highlighted the country’s engagement in the solution to the dispute between Rwanda and Uganda, through several summits in Luanda. In its turn, this event led to another summit “courageously held” on the border between the two countries.
According to João Lourenço, such efforts later culminated in the re-establishment of relations between the two countries.
Old disputes in Central Africa
João Lourenço also recalled that Angola is working on addressing dispute between Rwanda and the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after the resurgence of the M23 rebel movement, supposed to be inactive for years.
The first summits on these subject were held in Luanda. Under the Angolan mediation, it was possible to guarantee the exchange of prisoners on both sides.
As for the Central African Republic (CAR), João Lourenço said he was optimistic about the ongoing efforts to achieve peace because.
He added the current situation is very different from the one that prevailed three or four years ago, when rebel forces were advancing on the capital.
There were rebel forces that were outside the capital, Bangui, threatening power, a situation that “is not happening today,” he explained.
He explained that an agreement signed with the rebel leaders, under the auspices of the ICGLR, and successive summits held in Luanda, led them to accept to “lay down the guns definitively”.
