The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
LUANDA, Angola | Xinhua | Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who currently serves as the acting chair of the African Union (AU), has proposed Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe as the AU mediator in the peace process between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, according to a statement released Saturday by the Angolan presidency on social media.
The proposal was made during the first meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the AU on the situation in eastern DRC, convened by Lourenco the same day. The meeting was attended by the presidents of Ghana and Mauritania, the vice president of Burundi, and Tanzania’s foreign minister, the statement said.
During the meeting, Lourenco highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC, stressing the immense suffering of civilians and its destabilizing effect on regional peace.
Angola had announced its withdrawal from the mediation role on March 24, just two months after assuming the AU’s rotating chairmanship.
The statement cited “expanded responsibilities and commitments as chair of the continental organization” and the imperative to “ensure continuity in leadership and momentum in the mediation process” as reasons for Angola’s decision to step down. ■
