Angolan President João Lourenço has stressed the importance of dialogue between the DR Congo’s government and AFC/M23 rebels, suggesting that negotiations are the only viable way to resolve the ongoing security crisis in eastern DR Congo.
Lourenço, who is a mediator for the African Union-backed Luanda process, told a magazine that regional leaders have advised Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi to pursue negotiations rather than a military approach.
“The Congolese authorities are aware of the situation and we have encouraged President Tshisekedi to engage in talks with all parties, including the M23, who are Congolese citizens,” Lourenço said in an interview published on Thursday, February 14.
Lourenço reiterated that dialogue is the only sustainable solution when conflicts arise between citizens, drawing on Angola’s experience of civil war from 1975 to 2002.
“This lesson has been repeated several times to remind President Tshisekedi that negotiations are inevitable sooner or later,” he said.
Lourenço’s statements came about a week after leaders of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to call on the Congolese government to engage in talks with the rebels.
Lourenço, who has been mediating the Luanda process since mid-2022, has announced his intention to hand over the mediation role when he assumes the African Union presidency.
Originally designed to ease diplomatic tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo over Kigali’s alleged support for the M23, the Luanda process stalled in mid-December when the Congolese government refused to sign an agreement paving the way for direct negotiations with the rebels.
The crisis escalated significantly after the fall of Goma. In response, the leaders of the EAC and SADC recently agreed to merge the Luanda and Nairobi processes into a unified framework for peace negotiations in eastern DRC.