By Kennedy Ndahiro
10/29/08
Village Urugwiro – DRC President Joseph Kabila Tuesday sent a special message to President Paul Kagame.
The message was delivered by Kabila’s new Foreign Affairs minister, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, at Village Urugwiro .
The President’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Ambassador Joseph Mutaboba, revealed that Kabila’s message dwelt on the current volatile situation in North Kivu, where the DRC government is struggling to contain rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).
Kabila also sounded out on the possibility of both Heads of State meeting to discuss outstanding issues.
Kagame reportedly sent back a message to Kabila that CNDP was not Rwanda’s problem and that it was a Congolese internal matter that only they could resolve.
“The President however reiterated his concerns of the continued alliance between the DRC government and the rebel militia, Democratic Front for Libration of Rwanda (FDLR), who are a security menace to Rwanda,” said Ambassador Mutaboba who attended the meeting.
Kagame is said to have reminded Kabila of the several engagements that the DRC has failed to honour, in regards to the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRR), of the FDLR as agreed, among them in the Lusaka, Pretoria and Nairobi agreements. DRC has failed to implement any of them.
On the issue of a potential Summit between the two Heads of State, Kagame replied that it was not the priority at the moment. He said that implementing what was agreed before was more important in order to avoid piling more agreements that would remain dead letters.
However President Kagame suggested a way forward: both Presidents could continue having consultations by phone as they usually do, and that an exchange of envoys could pave the way forward to a face-to-face meeting.
Alexis Thambwe Mwamba was appointed Foreign Affairs minister over the weekend, replacing Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi.