The African Union mediator for the Great Lakes crisis is holding talks with the Angolan president, current AU chair, just days ahead of the continental summit and three weeks after the establishment of the mediation architecture.
Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, the African Union Mediator for the Great Lakes region has been on a working visit to Luanda, Angola, on Monday at the invitation of his Angolan counterpart João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, the current Chairperson of the African Union, according to a statement issued by the Presidency of the Togolese Council.
The two heads of state are scheduled to hold a one-on-one meeting focused on key areas of bilateral cooperation, “with a view to defining new prospects for mutually beneficial partnership,” the statement said.
According to the Togolese presidency, discussions will primarily address regional and continental issues related to integration, peace, security and stability in Africa, with particular emphasis on the Great Lakes region.
President Gnassingbé, the African Union’s mediator for resolving the Great Lakes crisis, “is pursuing an inclusive and consultative approach aimed at establishing lasting peace in the region, in line with the mandate entrusted to him by the African Union,” the statement added.
The diplomatic mission “is expected to be decisive in examining the continent’s major challenges and managing the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),” just days ahead of the African Union Heads of State and Government Conference, the Togolese presidency said.
The visit comes three weeks after a high-level meeting held on January 16–17 in Lomé on coherence and consolidation of the peace process in the DRC and the Great Lakes region, during which the African Union unveiled the architecture of its mediation framework for eastern DRC.
According to a statement published on January 19 by Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, President Gnassingbé was officially appointed African Union mediator for the peace process in the DRC. He is supported by a Togolese mediation team drawn from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Unit.
The mediation framework is structured around several thematic pillars entrusted to former African heads of state. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is responsible for military and security issues, while former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde oversees humanitarian affairs. Dialogue with local armed groups has been assigned to former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Regional economic cooperation falls under the responsibility of former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, while civil society issues, national reconciliation and women’s participation are handled by former Central African Republic President Catherine Samba-Panza.
An independent joint secretariat, bringing together Togo, the African Union Commission, the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), is tasked with ensuring technical coordination of the process.
The African Union Commission, for its part, is responsible for coordinating with international partners, including the United Nations, Qatar, the European Union, the United States and the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
This new mediation architecture aims to strengthen coherence among regional and continental initiatives in support of a lasting resolution to the conflict in eastern DRC, which continues to be marked by persistent armed violence and regional tensions.
Presidents Gnassingbé and Lourenço maintain regular consultations on bilateral, regional and continental issues related to peace, security and continental integration, the statement concluded.
AC/sf/lb/as/APA