Kinshasa – Angola Head of State, João Lourenço, arrived Monday in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to meet with the Congolese President, Félix Tshisekedi.
The visit is part of the diplomatic efforts undertaken to ensure compliance with the new ceasefire agreement signed on July 30 in Luanda between the DRC and Rwanda, under João Lourenço’s mediation.
In force since August 4, the new ceasefire in the east of the DRC has been the subject of a great deal of diplomatic activity involving Angola, the United States, South Africa, the DRC and Rwanda.
Last weekend, João Lourenço was in Kigali, where he discussed the issue with his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, on the sidelines of the latter's inauguration ceremony for a new five-year term.
Prior to his trip, President João Lourenço, in his capacity as African Union (AU) mediator in the conflict, spoke by telephone with Kagame and Tshisekedi about consolidating the peace process in the DRC.
João Lourenço met with South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Angolan capital, Luanda, who thanked the Angolan president’s efforts in the quest for peace in the region.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of actively supporting the M23 rebel group in the conflict in the east of the country, allegations repeatedly refuted by the Rwandan authorities.
Kinshasa also accuses Rwanda and the M23 group of trying to seize mineral resources in the east of the country.
M23, which is one of more than 100 armed groups active in the region, claims to be defending a threatened section of the Tutsi population living in North Kivu province in DRC.
The M23 was formed on April 4, 2012, when around 300 soldiers from the DRC Armed Forces rose up against an alleged breach of the peace agreement of March 23, 2009, which gives the movement its name.
After its then leader, Bosco Ntaganda, lost power, the movement took up arms again at the end of 2021, after a decade of lying dormant.
Since then, it has conquered large areas of North Kivu territory and caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in this eastern province.
The United Nations estimates that there are more than seven million displaced people in the region, in what is one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world.
President accuses predecessor
Last week, President Félix Tshisekedi accused his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, of preparing an "insurrection" and of belonging to an armed rebel movement.
Joseph Kabila is "preparing an insurrection", said Tshisekedi, also accusing his predecessor of coordinating or belonging to the Alliance Française du Congo (AFC), a political-military movement that includes the M23.
"He is the AFC," Tshisekedi said in an interview with Congolese radio station Top Congo in Belgium, where he was undergoing medical treatment.
In December last year, Corneille Nanga, former president of the DRC Electoral Commission, announced the creation of the AFC together with M23.
Several members of Joseph Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) have joined the AFC and are awaiting the verdict of a military court in Kinshasa, where they could be sentenced to death.
Joseph Kabila came to power in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997.
In January 2019, Kabila handed over power to Félix Tshisekedi, a former opponent who was declared the winner of the December 2018 presidential election, marking the first peaceful transfer of power since the country's independence in 1960.
After two years of conflicting "co-management" of the country, Tshisekedi declared a break with Kabila's political group, since then, the former President has remained very discreet in his appearances, never taking a position on the country's political issues. ADR/VIC/TED/AMP
