The Sunday News
Victoria Ruzvidzo in Luanda, Angola
THE African Union must deal with every aspect of insecurity in any member State to create a peaceful continent that fosters industrialisation and growth, President Mnangagwa has said.
Briefing journalists at the end of the Summit on the conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo here yesterday, the President said it was necessary that the AU resolves the issues.
President Mnangagwa is also the chairman of the AU Peace and Security Council for June on a rotational basis.
President Mnangagwa poses for a photo with other African leaders at the High Level Quadripartite meeting of the Southern African Development Community, the East African Community, the Economic Community of the Central African States and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, in Angola yesterday. (Picture by Presidential Photographer Tawanda Mudimu)
“We must be at the forefront to take the facts and determine how we can deal with these issues because not everybody can be involved. We must have somebody championing these issues so that we can share among ourselves and this is important because you can see what is developing now.
The current crop of African Heads of States, they would want really to be a solid African continent which can resolve their own problems for their own security and purpose,” he said.
The Summit had given African leaders an opportunity to assess how they could bring peace, stability and economic cohesion between the DRC and East Africa. President Mnangagwa said African leaders had demonstrated their commitment to bring a political solution to the conflict.
“We have a problem that must be resolved by African leaders themselves. Fortunately the President of the DRC came and made an articulation of the problems but for Rwanda there was the Minister of Foreign Affairs who represented President (Paul) Kagame”.
He noted the presence of former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta who has been seized with the issue as the facilitator of the peace process in Eastern DRC and the Angolan President Joao Manuel Concalves Lourenco who also played a critical role in helping resolve the conflict.
“So you can see the concern by African Heads of State. Africa must be peaceful for us to develop, for us to industrialise we need peace and security in our respective jurisdictions,” said President Mnangagwa.
Yesterday’s meeting, he said, was a step in the process of bringing peace to Eastern DRC.
“We are still resolving the challenges there. Just one meeting cannot make sure that all the over 200 groups in Eastern DRC will go away because we have met in Luanda.
“There were so many people attending to these issues and this was done haphazardly, so this meeting is attempting to consolidate these efforts so that there is co-ordination and harmony in the efforts which we are putting towards resolving these issues,” said President Mnangagwa.
The conflict in Eastern DRC has been deteriorating following the resurgence of the March 23 (M23) rebels and other terrorist groups said to be in the mineral-rich country.
President Mnangagwa is welcomed by Angolan President Joao Manuel Lourenco
The Southern African Development Community, the East African Community, the Economic Community of Central Africa and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region have put their heads together in a quadripartite initiative to quell the conflict.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Angolan President said it was important that Africa strengthens its pillars of development and social and economic cohesion and ensure the well-being of its people.
Peace was a critical component of it all.
Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahammat called for robust interventions to bring peace to the DRC.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa arrived in Harare last night from Angola where he attended the African Union Quadripartite Summit of the East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
He was welcomed at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, senior Government officials and service chiefs.
