Angola raps Kabila

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos last week reprimanded DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila in view of his “negative attitude” towards the peace process in the country. According to a private independent Angolan newspaper ‘Agora’, “authorised sources” quoted dos Santos as saying that Kabila’s allies (Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe) have had “enough of Kabila’s arrogance”. Dos Santos reportedly said the DRC leader “went to the extreme” of not attending the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) summit in Windhoek, which dealt with the peace process in his country, and “contributed to the failure” of the 14 August summit held in Lusaka.

“The allies have been taken aback by the manner in which Kabila deals with the UN and Sir Ketumile Masire, the former president of Botswana, who has been mediating in the peace process,” Dos Santos said. During his recent visit to Luanda, Kabila was told that the allies “would withdrew from the DRC if he continues to obstruct the implementation of the peace process in his country”. He said the allied armies had not yet withdrawn, because there was not yet an alternative to Kabila and they feared that their decision would lead to an even more chaotic situation in the DRC.