Kabila calls for solidarity and reconciliation

DRC President Joseph Kabila called for solidarity with the people in eastern Congo and national reconciliation, in a speech to mark the country’s 41st independence anniversary on Saturday. According to his speech, broadcast by DRC state radio, he condemned the “aggression perpetrated on 2 August 1998 by the Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian armies”, and hailed those who died “to safeguard the country”, including his father Laurent-Désiré Kabila. He said his father had “begun to disturb the interests of those who had decided to recolonise Congo”. Joseph Kabila stressed there were three challenges facing him as president: the restoration of peace, the democratisation of the country, and national reconstruction. “I reiterate my constant readiness to hold a dialogue with everybody and bring Congolese nationals together,” he stated. “We have to shake hands with the enemy as long as he understands that dialogue is noble and war dehumanising”.