Luanda - The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, starts this Monday a working visit to Angola, at the invitation of his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço.
The visit takes place six days after the Angolan Head of State received a delegation headed by André Kambanda, a minister at the Congolese Presidency.
On the occasion, André Kambamba, who was accompanied by the adviser for the private affairs of the DRC President, Biselele Kayimpagi, the DRC itinerant Ambassador, André Wanesso, and the adviser to President Felix Tshisekedi, Gaston Kambwa Kambwe, delivered to President João Lourenço a message from his counterpart.
At the end of the meeting , the official did not reveal the content of the message, but told the press that it aimed to strengthen bilateral relations.
Tshisekedi's last visit to Angola took place in January 2020, when he met in
Benguela, with President João Lourenço.
After taking office on 24 January 2019, following his election on 30 December 2018, Tshisekedi made his first visit abroad, starting with Angola, where he was received by the Angolan statesman.
The leader of the DRC is returning to Angola at a time when that neighbouring country is going through a deep political crisis, due to disagreements between the governing coalition that leads the country, formed by President Tshisekedi's CACH, and the FCC, led by Joseph Kabila Kabange.
The disagreement came to light on 21 October when, in swearing in three judges from the constitutional court, Tshisekedi noted the absences of the speaker of the National Assembly, Jeanine Mabunda, the President of the Senate, Alex Tambwe Mwamba, and the Prime Minister, Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, all from Kabila's political platform, which holds the majority in these three institutions.
In a six-minute speech, the Congolese Head of State revealed the differences and announced the start of political consultations aimed at creating a "Sacred Union for the Nation", an activity which has been going on for over 20 days.
The consequences of the consultations are unknown, but, according to Tshisekedi, "all the scenarios on the table are possible".
It should be remembered that, because of the prevailing disagreement, Joseph Kabila Kabange sent strong messages to some Heads of State and heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Kinshasa, foreseeing possible incalculable consequences for the country.
Kabila personally sent letters to the Ambassadors of South Africa, Kenya and Egypt, to the Presidents of the respective countries that he points out as the guarantors of the FCC-CACH coalition government agreement, as well as to the MONUSCO representative in the DRC, who is to deliver the mail to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
In the same way, he instructed his former Foreign Minister, Léonard She Okitundu, to send the same messages to the ambassadors of some member countries of the SADC, such as those of Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Tanzania, as well as the Apostolic Nuncio in Kinshasa.
Due to the tension, on Thursday (12) the spokesman of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) asked the politicians not to influence the military.
The warning from the Congolese general officer comes after the controversy raised the day before by the UDPS Secretary General, Augustin Kabuya, Tshisekedi's party, who accused the Minister of Finance and member of Kabila's political platform, of not paying the salaries of the military and the police, in order to provoke revolt against President Tshisekedi.
Bilateral relations
Meanwhile, Angola and the DRC have longstanding political and bilateral relations, despite a period of detachment in the Cold War era.
Until 23 years ago, these relationships were a prototype of a relationship characteristic of the African countries during the Cold War that raged in the world between 1948 and November 1989, the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In the context of the Cold War, both neighbouring countries, in the name of scientific socialism or liberalism, opposed each other.
At that time, black Africa, in particular Angola and Zaïre, became the extension of Moscow and Washington, divided into two camps according to the sources of military and economic aid that one of them received.
It was in this context that the first Angolan president, António Agostinho Neto, visited the former Zaire in 1978, which resulted in the agreement that established diplomatic bilateral relations.
Despite the ups and downs, relations between Angola and the DRC have been good for the last 23 years.
