"The promoters of tensions and conflicts on our continent must be discouraged, held accountable and penalized with heavy sanctions from the organization, which will have serious consequences for them, people and countries," said the President of the Republic and of the AU, João Lourenço, this Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
For the AU leader, the problem of conflicts in Africa and the accountability of those responsible for them should merit "more exhaustive reflection" by the AU commission, so that the Peace and Security Council is given a fundamental role in the action it must take to prevent and resolve conflicts that prevail on the continent.
"What is at stake is the need to create a solid architecture of peace and security in Africa, which today constitutes one of the great concerns of our continent," said João Lourenço, speaking at the handover ceremony of the new members of the AU commission.
"We should feel ashamed that institutions outside Africa, such as the European Union or the United Nations Security Council, are sometimes more rigorous, demanding and forceful in their positions than we are in dealing with conflicts that unfold on our continent," he said.
Lourenço, who has held the rotating presidency of the AU since February, reiterated his concern about terrorism and violent extremism, unconstitutional changes in democratically elected governments and the conflicts that prevail in Africa, especially in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) and in Sudan.
"It is clear that, (...) although there has been some encouraging progress in conflicts that seemed to have no end in sight, there are still some that are unfortunately evolving in a worrying and condemnable negative direction, as is the case of the conflict that continues in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo," he said.
"We have decided not to sit idly by and insist on seeking peaceful solutions, not allowing the ongoing balkanization plan to come to fruition, with the creation of a pariah state in the east of the DR Congo, or even the attempt to reverse the power established in Kinshasa by military means," he continued.
The Presidency of the Republic announced on Wednesday that it will host "direct negotiations" between the authorities of neighboring DR Congo and the M23 rebels on the 18th, in Luanda, as part of Angola's mediation of the conflict.
As for Sudan, the AU leader promised to work "much more closely" with Ugandan President Yowei Musseveni, who has done "commendable work" to eliminate harmful external factors in the search for a constructive dialogue between the parties in conflict to achieve a ceasefire.
João Lourenço also expressed his conviction that African states must act to find African solutions to African problems and achieve the silencing of weapons, so that this issue does not continue to dominate the AU's "almost eternal" agendas and debates.
For peace and security in Africa, João Lourenço also mentioned that it would be useful to hold a broad conference reserved to analyze the conflicts on the continent, "whose main focus should be on the issue of peace, as an obligatory and inalienable good for all the peoples of our continent".
