SADC leaders sanction another meeting on DRC

A summit of leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which ended on Monday night in Windhoek, Namibia, has scheduled another meeting for next Monday in Lusaka, Zambia. The meeting is intended to discuss the DRC crisis, which was not discussed conclusively because of DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila’s absence. ‘The Namibian’ daily quoted a communique issued by the leaders as suggesting that Zambian President Frederick Chiluba should convene a meeting of all signatories to the Lusaka agreement on 14 August.

The paper quoted DRC Foreign Minister Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi as telling journalists earlier on Monday that Kabila would attend the Lusaka meeting “if he is alive”. He said he would represent Kabila if the president failed to arrive, casting doubt on the likelihood of Kabila turning up, the paper reported. Namibian President Sam Nujoma, however, expressed optimism that Kabila would attend the Lusaka meeting. “We are going to talk about the Congo and he is the leader of Congo, he has to be there,” Nujoma noted. The DRC has rejected the facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue Ketumile Masire and has also blocked the deployment of UN peacekeepers in government-controlled parts of the country.