in ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – President Mnangagwa arrived here yesterday for the 36th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU), and immediately got down to business by joining other leaders to tackle the political situation on the continent, with specific focus on the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where a running conflict has displaced thousands of people.
It was a hectic and packed programme for the President as he was part of a marathon meeting to explore ways to end ravaging conflict in the DRC.
The meeting was held under the auspices of the AU Peace and Security Council Organ, which is chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Besides Heads of State and Government from Africa, the meeting was attended by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat.
In his report, President Ramaphosa said it was critical that the continent doubles its effort to combat conflict in Eastern DRC.
He called for parties to the conflict to abide by the peace framework signed in February 2013.
“The aspiration of the framework was to usher in peace, security stability and development in the DRC and the Great Lakes as a whole.
“Ten years since it was signed, DRC continues to experience periodic cycles of conflict and violence. We agree that the volatile situation in the DRC has gone far too long and is clearly untenable,” said President Ramaphosa.
He said it was unfortunate that there was continued incidents of people being killed and women’s rights being violated.
“The current cycle of violence is even more worrying that it is being fuelled by an armed group the M23 which was long thought to have been dismantled,” he said.
The DRC has continued to be mired in intractable conflicts despite successive establishment of elected Governments.
It has been facing challenges in consolidating peace throughout its territory.
The Eastern region has consistently experienced high insecurity and repeated incident of violence spawned by M23 rebels, an armed conflict in North Kivu Province.
The group has seized swathes of territory in North Kivu province and neared the regional hub of Goma prompting hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
Earlier on, President Mnangagwa arrived at Bole International Airport at around 1430 hrs local time, where he was welcomed by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Ambassador Frederick Shava, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza, Zimbabwe’s Permanent Representative to the AU Ambassador Sophie Nyamudeza and Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Sport, Mr Kejela Merdasa.
He was treated to some traditional dance before he inspected the guard of honour mounted by the Ethiopian National Defence Forces.
Running under the Theme, “Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation”, the summit will take stock of the progress made to date in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
African Heads of State and Governments are expected to reaffirm their commitment to the full implementation of the AfCFTA and ensure the finalisation of outstanding issues.
It will also consider reports from several thematic issues such as the report on the AU institutional reforms, and appointments to various organs of the Union, among others.
The current AU Chairperson and Senegal President Macky Sall will present the annual report of the Chairperson as well a report on global governance focusing on the proposal for the AU to become a member of the Group of 20 (G20).
There will be an election of a new Chair of AU since President Sall’s term at the helm of the continental body will be coming to an end.
During his tenure, President Sall has been vocal in the condemnation of illegal sanctions imposed by the West and calling for their unconditional removal. – The Herald
