Brazzaville - President João Lourenço arrived Friday morning in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to discuss with counterparts from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), solutions to the political stability in Chad.
Chad is going through a civil war since December 2005, involving government forces and several armed groups.
The situation in Chad worsened with the death on 20 April this year of President Idriss Déby Itno, following wounds sustained in fightings against rebel forces.
A Military Transitional Council was then put in place on 2 May, to run the country’s current affairs until new elections are held in 18 months.
In Brazzaville, João Lourenço has joined other heads of State and Government set to adopt a declaration containing contributions to the political stability in Chad.
The leader of Chad’s Transitional Military Council, Mahamat Idriss Déby, ended on Thursday a 48-hour visit to Angola, during which he met with President João Lourenço, whom he asked for diplomatic support for the stabilisation of his country.
Speaking to journalists in Brazzaville, the ECCAS executive secretary, Angolan Gilberto Veríssimo, characterised the situation in Chad as “worrying”.
He said there are several rebel groups in the country that shares borders with some politically unstable countries like Libya, Sudan, South Sudan and Niger, including the Chad Lake, where terrorist action is rampant.
He explained that the political environment in Chad worsened as, upon reaching power, the military suspended the Constitution and created a Charter pledging to secure a transition in 18 months, with the participation of all the country’s living forces.
According to ambassador Gilberto Veríssimo, ECCAS intends to closely follow up the transition as planned.
However, he ruled out sending troops into Chad, stressing that “the environment is fundamentally political” once settled, the security situation will also get solved.
The Central Africa region is currently hit by a situation of political instability that affects the consolidation of peace and security.
DRC and CAR are the most affected by the political instability, including Chad as a result of the death on the battlefield of President Idriss Déby, in April this year.
Angola has this year hosted two Heads of State and Government summits on peace in CAR and brokered a border conflict between Rwanda and Uganda.
ECCAS groups Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda and São Tome and Principe.
The regional bloc was established in 1983, in Libreville, Gabon, to boost cooperation towards self-sustainable development, particularly the economic stability and better living for its populations.
With a population of about 145 million inhabitants, the organisation has drafted for this year a budget of Usd 75.7 billion from member countries and international partners contributions.
ECCAS priority for 2021 is the operationalisation of the common market, improvement of the services and productive capacity, reinforcement of economic, monetary and financial cooperation, as well as building of statistics capacities.
Political integration, peace and economic security, monetary, financial, environment and rural development are high on the agenda of the 2021-2025 indicative strategic plan.