'Political, security situation in DR Congo remains worrisome' - Sassou Nguesso

Écrit par Antoine Lawson | 19 Octobre 2017

Brazzaville, Congo, October 19 (Infosplusgabon) - The sociopolitical and security situation in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains worrisome, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso said on Thursady at the opening of the 7th International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in Brazzaville.

"The Great Lakes area is marked by many conflicts. Despite the actions taken in implementing the decisions taken during our work in Angola in 2016, the sociopolitical and security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains a matter of concern," said Sassou Nguesso.

According to the Congolese leader, the DRC, which borders nine countries, representing 24% of the area of the ICGLR member countries and concentrating a quarter of the population of the zone, such a geo-strategic relationship cannot stay indifferent.

Sassou Nguesso, who currently holds the presidency of the ICGLR, said DRC is faced with the regional scale of sociopolitical disturbances, recurring armed clashes and their multifaceted impact. He noted that only concerted and cross-border actions can promote, in a sustainable way, peace in that country.

For his part, Angolan President Joao Lourenço said that a major step has been taken in DR Congo to put an end to the presence of the negative forces that were causing chaos in the east of the country, notably  Forces démocratiques de libération du  Rwanda (FDLR) and for the dismantling of the Congolese M-23 militias.

"Despite a situation that is not yet fully normalized, we are seeing substantial progress which has led to the establishment of a national dialogue between government, opposition political parties and other civil society forces to create an enabling environment to the timely conduct of elections," he said.

Regarding the Central African Republic, the Congolese President said that even if the process of returning to peace followed its course in the country, threats still linger and require sustained attention from the actors.

"Despite some progress made in Burundi, we agree together and rightly about the fragility of the situation in this country," said Sassou Nguesso.

"The files before us have already been the subject of deliberations on our part at previous summits. Without complacency, we must evaluate the actions already taken to define, in an exact way, the most effective articulation of our future options, " Sassou Nguesso emphasized.

"We must never lose sight of the fact that the difficulties on one side of each border will inevitably go through the artificial separations, to spread to neighbouring countries," he  warned, adding, "we must accept our disparities and transform into levers of progress through, inter alia, the complementarity of national development policies and the effectiveness of the free movement of goods and persons."

Tthe aim is to promote genuine regional integration that benefits each member country of the ICGLR, he concluded.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/OKL/GABON 2017

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