"[Paul] Kagame has been circumventing the efforts made by Angola to find peace in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRCongo), because this demand from President Kagame made on Saturday for Sunday, when some points had already been agreed", the teacher told Lusa this Monday.
The tripartite summit in Luanda – Angola, DRCongo and Rwanda, under Angolan mediation, for peace in eastern Congo – ended up not taking place on Sunday as only the President of DRCongo, Félix Tshisekedi, attended the capital.
The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, did not attend, an absence that, for Osvaldo Mboco, reinforces the need for the two heads of state to make concessions for effective peace and stability in eastern DRCongo.
"If the parties do not make concessions, it will be difficult for us to find peace in eastern DRCongo. In a negotiation process, no one can lose everything and no one can gain everything, either, and as a result of this it was expected that both parties would make concessions," he said.
He considered that the absence of Paul Kagame, in Luanda, where he was awaited by Félix Tshisekedi, by President João Lourenço (as facilitator of the Luanda process) and by former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta (as facilitator of the Nairobi process), among the M23 and DRCongo "clearly demonstrate" that the president of Rwanda "has been the disruptive element at the regional level".
He recalled that Paul Kagame's absence "is not new, it is recurrent in summits with this format".
Mboco understood, on the other hand, that the lack of attendance by the Rwandan head of state is symptomatic of his lack of interest in pacification in eastern DRCongo, alluding to UN reports on the alleged involvement of Rwandan troops in the ranks of the March 23 Movement (M23), which is in conflict with the regular Congolese army, and the "plundering" of resources coming from DRCongo.
With a peace agreement of this nature, he continued, Rwanda "will stop plundering the DRCongo miners and this could jeopardize the development it has been having through the plundering of resources".
"We are clearly not advocating that Rwanda should illegally exploit the DRC's resources," he maintained.
The analyst also admitted the likelihood that Rwanda no longer sees Luanda as a valid interlocutor in this process for peace in DRCongo, referring to this being one of the variables that could justify Paul Kagame's absence in the capital.
"I think [Paul] Kagame shielded himself from that element to say that it's not a Rwandan problem, but an M23 with DRCongo and so they should both deal with this issue (peace) and not with Rwanda, which I think it is a dangerous and fallacious position, because it is public knowledge that the M23 has the support of Rwanda and that when they feel pressured they enter the forests of Rwanda to reorganize their operations", concluded Osvaldo Mboco.
The Rwandan government said on Sunday that the postponement of the Luanda tripartite summit on peace in DRCongo was due to "critical unresolved issues" and accused the Congolese authorities of threats.
At issue, according to a statement from the Rwandan Government, are direct talks with the M23 armed group to reach a political solution to the conflict in eastern DR Congo, a point on which there was no consensus at Saturday's meeting.
Speaking to journalists, the head of Angolan diplomacy said that the agreement presented by João Lourenço for negotiation between DRCongo and Rwanda was negotiated "at 99 percent" and involves three issues, the first of which is related to the disengagement of forces, the second on the neutralization of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the third on the M23".
According to Téte António, the last point was negotiated at ministerial level on Saturday "until very late", and it was not possible to reach "a convergence of points of view".
