On Thursday 13 March, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo advocated a ‘diplomatic solution’ for the pacification of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where there have been more than 8,500 deaths since January due to the armed conflict.
‘We took the opportunity to once again advocate a diplomatic solution so that there can be peace and, above all, stability in that region,’ he said at the end of an extraordinary summit of the heads of state and government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss security in the DRC.
Speaking to the media, Chapo praised the ‘efforts’ of the country’s President, Félix Tshisekedi, and the involvement of SADC to ensure tranquillity in the nation, emphasising that Mozambican is making bilateral and multilateral efforts to resolve the problem quickly.
‘We will continue to defend the need, above all, for the efforts being made by Rwanda and Kenya to re-establish security, peace and stability,’ he added.
Since 1998, eastern DRCongo has been plunged into a conflict fuelled by rebel militias and the army. The instability has caused massive population displacement, affecting not only the country, but also neighbouring nations such as Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
