SADC chairperson Lourenço concerned at violence in Mozambique and DR Congo

MORONI, Comoros

Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who is the current chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has expressed his concern about the instability and extreme violence that has been taking place in some countries in the region, especially in Mozambique and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Angolan President Loureço greets President Nyusi of Mozambique, in Moroni, at the inauguration ceremony of the President of Comoros., on Sunday 26 May 2024.

According to Lourenço, who was speaking on Sunday, at a ceremony in which the President of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, was sworn into office after re-election for a further five-year term, “we reiterate our continued support and solidarity with Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are under attack”

At the ceremony, which was also attended by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, Lourenço reiterated SADC’s willingness to continue supporting Mozambique in the fight against terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

According to the Angolan leader, terrorism in Cabo Delgado and parts of the DRC jeopardize the development efforts of the countries of the SADC region.

Loureço also expressed his concern about the armed conflict in Sudan, which has caused a growing number of human victims and major destruction of the country’s economic infrastructure. It has also driven vast numbers of people from their homes, destabilizing neighbouring countries that are finding it difficult to respond to the humanitarian emergency.

For his turn, the president sworn into office, Azali Assoumani, said that his government has already drawn up an economic development plan that will boost the country.

He said that, to this end, a plan to mobilize financial resources has already been submitted to the Comoros’ partners and that one of the projects already has guarantees worth at least four million dollars.

Assoumani, 65, was re-elected with 63 per cent of the vote. He first came to power in 1999. He left office in 2002 and won the elections 14 years later. The 2018 constitutional reforms removed the requirement that the presidency rotate between the three main islands that make up the archipelago every five years, allowing Assoumani to stand for re-election in 2019.