The Heads of State of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola met in Luanda on Wednesday July 6 with the aim of defusing tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa and helping to find a solution to the current crisis in the DRC. The Tripartite Summit developed a “Roadmap on the process of pacification of the eastern region of the DRC”, addressing some
The Heads of State of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola met in Luanda on Wednesday July 6 with the aim of defusing tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa and helping to find a solution to the current crisis in the DRC.
The Tripartite Summit developed a ‘Road Map on the Pacification Process of the Eastern Region of the DRC’, addressing some of the issues at the heart of insecurity in the sub-region.
Angolan President João Lourenço has announced that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have agreed to immediately end tensions between the two countries, writes the regional daily The East African.
“I am happy to report that we have had positive results, in our view, insofar as we have agreed to a ceasefire, among other measures contained in the road map which has just been presented,” the Angolan president said following the Luanda summit on July 6.
President Lourenço, also president of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), added that Luanda will host the meeting of the joint Rwanda-DRC bilateral commission next Tuesday.
On July 8, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs announced on his twitter account that no ceasefire agreement had been signed between Rwanda and the DRC: “The outcome of the tripartite meeting of Luanda is a roadmap with clear objectives and activities to be implemented by different partners. Neither an agreement nor a ceasefire has been signed. Disinformation/populism sabotages the goal of peace in the DRC/in the region”.
What regarding the agreements in the roadmap?
According to the roadmap presented following the Luanda summit on July 6, the DRC and Rwanda agreed to normalize political and diplomatic relations, to establish a climate of trust between the States of the region, to create conditions dialogue and political consultation to resolve the current security crisis in eastern DR Congo, writes the Rwandan daily The New Times.
The roadmap also orders immediate action on the “FDLR and its dissident groups which are at the root of tensions between Rwanda and the DRC and play a major role in the insecurity of the DRC”.
There was also an agreement to firmly tackle hate speech in the DRC, which has increased in the recent past targeting Rwanda.
The summit decided to reactivate the joint Rwanda-DRC intelligence team and set practical modalities to fight the FDLR in collaboration with regional mechanisms.
According The New Timesrecent evidence has shown that Kinshasa integrated the FDLR into its army and even supported them to destabilize Rwanda.
The Luanda summit ordered, in the roadmap, the prevention of violations of territorial integrity and the respect of the commitments made by the ICGLR States in this regard.
It was also decided to immediately create an ad hoc verification mechanism headed by a general officer of the Republic of Angola to verify the authenticity of the accusations made by Rwanda and the DRC.
Regarding the M23 issue, the summit concluded that it is an internal Congolese issue that should be dealt with within the framework of the Nairobi process.
In a communication broadcast by Rwandan public television following the meeting in Luanda, Kigali underlined that this roadmap recommended resolving the problem posed by the FDLR and treating the M23 as a Congolese issue, “within the framework of the Nairobi process. “.
“The Luanda agreements do not commit the M23”
“We are Congolese, not Rwandans. If there is a ceasefire, it can only be between us and the Congolese government,” said Willy Ngoma, M23 spokesman following the Luanda summit.
The DRC presidency has announced that Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame have agreed on a “de-escalation process”, confides News.Cd.
“This roadmap does not commit the M23. We are Congolese, we have nothing to do with Rwanda. We are asked to leave here, but to go where? It’s impossible,” said Willy Ngoma, interviewed from Goma.
According to concordant sources interviewed in Goma, capital by Actualité. Cd, new clashes opposed, this Thursday, the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) to the rebels of the M23, who seized a locality of Kanyabusoro in the territory of Rutshuru.
A FARDC commander accuses the rebels of having attacked the soldiers who were there, in violation of the ceasefire announced on July 6 in Luanda, which the M23 has denied, accusing in return the army of having it offensive.
Tanzania: Fuel prices on the rise despite government subsidies
Motorists in Tanzania should expect the worst as fuel prices across the country have been on the rise, since Wednesday, July 06, 2022, writes The Citizen.
According to the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura), the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene have reached an all-time high in the local market.
A liter of petrol is now bought at 3,220 shillings in Dar es Salaam compared to 2,994 shillings last month, while the price of diesel is 3,143 compared to 3,131 shillings.
Ewura argues that prices are lower than they would have been had the government not subsidized the oil sector to control prices.
According to The Citizen, the government has provided subsidies worth 100 billion shillings a month since June to reduce the impact of rising fuel prices on the global market.
“Fuel marketing companies are free to sell their products at a price that gives them a competitive advantage as long as it does not exceed the set price,” argues Modestus Lumato, managing director of Ewura.
Contacted by The CitizenTanzanian Minister of Energy, January Makamba, said the subsidy policy has helped a lot in Tanzania.
“The government plans to set up a strategic fuel stock and improve the unloading infrastructure at the port.”
According to Minister Makamba, the government will introduce a fuel price stabilization fund which will help in the future for subsidies to be provided from the fund.
Kenya: Electoral Commission rejects Raila Odinga’s allegations
The Kenyan Electoral Commission (IEBC) refutes the allegations of Azimio, a coalition of Raila Odinga, that it plans to print additional ballot papers to rig the presidential elections of this August 9 in favor of William Ruto, confides Daily Nation.
On 7 July, during a meeting with business leaders in Nairobi, IEBC President Wafula Chebukati dismissed the allegations: “I want to reassure people that there will be no marked votes that will be smuggled into the country from Uganda”.
Raila Odinga, presidential candidate, accuses Uganda of wanting to interfere in the Kenyan general elections to force the victory of his rival William Ruto.
“This is the reason why the president of the electoral commission refuses the manual register which will tell us how many people have voted. It is essential that we have a manual register in each polling station alongside the electronic identification of voters. This is not negotiable”.
On the question of whether he plans to boycott the elections in case the manual register is not used, Raila Odinga is reassuring: “We will proceed with the elections, but we tell the IEBC not to dare to rig the elections, because we will not allow it”.
He calls on the IEBC and the Kenyan government to be vigilant and ensure that the ballot is transparent and in accordance with the law.
Uganda: “Muhoozi’s tweets do not commit the Ministry of Defence”
Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs spokesman Felix Kulayigye says the ground forces commander’s tweets backing Ethiopian rebels in Tigray are his personal opinion, not that of the military.
This July 7, he explained to Daily Monitor that the tweets of the first son in which he supported the rebels of the Tigray People’s Liberation Force (TPLF), do not commit the Ugandan Defense Force (UPDF).
“I am aware of everything the army does. This tweet did not come from either the UPDF Supreme Commander of the Defense Forces or the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence. This is therefore not our official position”, specifies the spokesperson for the Ugandan ministry of defence.
Muhoozi Kainerugaba, commander of the land forces and son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, on November 5 tweeted statements in support of the Tigray rebels and accused the Ethiopian government of committing rights violations.
“I urge my great and brave brothers in the Tigray Defense Forces to listen to the words of General Yoweri Museveni! I am as angry as you and support your cause. Those who raped our sisters and killed our Tigrayan brothers must be punished! “, he posted on his twitter account.
