By Andrew Irumba
Angola: Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda agreed to continue dialoguing in a bid to find a lasting solution to whatever differences exist between their countries.
The two presidents were part of a quadripartite summit held in Luanda, Angola on 12 July 2019. The summit was also attended by host President, Joao Manuel Lourenco and DR Congo leader Felix Tshisekedi.
In a brief opening address before the leaders went into a closed-door session, President Lourenco said the summit was a follow-up to a tripartite one held on May 31st in Kinshasa, among DR Congo, Rwanda and Angola.
“That summit was about security issues particularly on the borders of the three countries. We then agreed that another meeting be held in Luanda, Angola and also agreed to invite President Museveni to join the summit,” said President Lourenco.
He added that whereas the original agenda was to discuss the security issues on the borders of the three countries, it had been expanded to include relations between Uganda and Rwanda.
Later, at the end of the summit, in a communiqué read by Angola’s External Affairs Minister, Manuel Domingos, it was indicated that “As far as relations between Rwanda and Uganda are concerned, the summit welcomed the willingness of the two parties to continue dialogue with a view to finding a solution to the existing problem.”
The heads of state also announced that Angola with the support of the DR Congo had been assigned the task of facilitating this process.
Also agreed upon in Luanda by the heads of state was to support the DR Congo deal with the outbreak of Ebola and commit to work together to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
The heads of state also commended the DR Congo for its efforts to pacify its entire national territory, but condemned the persistence of armed groups in the east of the country.
The presidents also congratulated themselves on the outcomes of the recent African Union Heads of State Summit in Niamey, Niger, which launched the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
This has been the second time that Rwanda and Uganda’s Heads of State meet since tensions arose between the two, resulting into the closure of the border by Rwanda in February 2019.
Rwanda accuses Uganda of torturing and mistreating innocent Rwandans and harboring Rwandans seeking to destabalise the country’s security.
The four Heads of State also decided to continue their consultations on issues of common interest.
