Namibia welcomes preparatory talks

The permanent Secretary of the Namibian ministry of foreign affairs, information and broadcasting, Mocks Shivute, said in a media statement on Tuesday that his government welcomed and supported this week’s preparatory talks in Gaborone, Botswana, in advance of the inter-Congolese dialogue. “That meeting which brings together the delegation of the government, the armed rebels as well as various Congolese political, religious, business and other opposition tendencies to discuss format, constitution, modalities, benchmarks time frame of the inter-Congolese dialogue, is an integral part of the 1999 Lusaka cease-fire agreement,” Namibian news agency NAMPA reported Shivute as saying. “Outsiders will leave and the Congolese people must pick up the pieces and build together towards a peaceful, united and prosperous country for the good of all and the Great Lakes region as a whole,” he added.

Shivute also called the UN “an essential partner in search of peace and human security in the DRC” but urged that “it must fulfill its responsibilities with all deliberate speed, adequate resources and political backup,” NAMPA reported him as saying. Shivute’s remarks coincided with the first state visit to Namibia by DRC President Joseph Kabila to brief authorities on the DRC peace process and to revive the dormant Namibia-Congolese Joint Commission of Cooperation and Trade Agreement. In response to questions from members of the Namibian business community, Kabila said businesses from all over the world are welcome to invest in the DRC, but that “I’d like to start with Namibia because you are our brothers and sisters,” The Namibian newspaper reported Kabila as saying.