Luanda - Angolan president João Lourenço left Friday for Lusaka, Zambia, for an extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique.
At the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, João Lourenço was bid farewell by the Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, among others.
The Lusaka summit has been called to address the security situation in the southern African region, with the latest developments in the east of the DRC and in northern Mozambique standing out.
The meeting will be chaired by Zambia's head of state, Hakainde Hichilema, in his capacity as chairperson-of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation.
The Organ and SADC Troika will be joined by the DRC and Mozambique as well as the troop-contributing countries for the SADC missions in these two member states, SAMIDRC and SAMIM respectively.
The Organ Troika is the SADC institution responsible for promoting peace and security in the region.
The Lusaka summit is expected to assess the progress made by SAMIDRC and SAMIM, which have been deployed to support the governments of the DRC and Mozambique in restoring peace, security and stability.
The SADC Organ Troika is currently made up of Zambia, the acting chairperson of the Organ, Tanzania, as the next chairperson, and Namibia, the outgoing chairperson.
The SADC Troika is made up of Angola, as SADC Chairperson-in-Office, Zimbabwe, as incoming Chairperson, and the DRC as outgoing Chairperson.
SAMIM contributing countries include Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The states contributing troops to SAMIDRC are Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania, which work in collaboration with the DRC government.
The Lusaka summit is preceded by extraordinary meetings of the Inter-State Defense and Security Sub-Committee and the Senior Officials and the Ministerial Committee of the Organ. VIC/ADR/TED/AMP
