{"id":2000112165,"date":"2026-05-16T16:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000112165"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:43:09","slug":"felix-tshisekedi-rejects-angolas-proposed-mediation-in-intra-congolese-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/felix-tshisekedi-rejects-angolas-proposed-mediation-in-intra-congolese-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi rejects Angola\u2019s proposed mediation in intra-Congolese talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Angolan President Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o, the former Chairperson of the African Union (AU), reportedly advised Congolese President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi that achieving lasting peace in the DRC would require engaging in dialogue with all Congolese stakeholders willing to participate, including armed opposition groups fighting against the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louren\u00e7o proposed that Angola facilitate and oversee the talks in order to guarantee the safety and confidence of all participants. He suggested that the discussions be held either in Luanda or another neutral location outside Kinshasa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2026, Louren\u00e7o met with representatives of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church from the DRC, alongside other political and social actors expected to participate in the dialogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the consultations, he prepared a report summarizing their proposals and recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that month, Angola\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tete Ant\u00f3nio, traveled to Kinshasa to deliver the report to President Tshisekedi and brief him on the outcome of the consultations held with various Congolese stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue remained largely out of public discussion until May 14, when Tshisekedi sent a six-member delegation to Angola to formally present his response to Louren\u00e7o\u2019s January report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the message delivered by the Congolese delegation, Tshisekedi rejected the proposal to hold the national dialogue outside the DRC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He insisted that the talks should be organized, managed, and led exclusively by Congolese state institutions and take place in Kinshasa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tshisekedi further stated that Angola\u2019s role should be limited to engaging with Congolese individuals or groups unwilling to travel to Kinshasa due to security concerns, before forwarding their views and recommendations to the Congolese government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and opposition groups in the DRC have consistently argued that no Congolese stakeholder should be excluded from the dialogue process. They have specifically called for the participation of the AFC\/M23 coalition, which is currently engaged in armed conflict with Congolese government forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Congolese government strongly opposed that proposal. Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya stated that individuals who have taken up arms and are \u201ckilling Congolese citizens\u201d should not be included in political negotiations, but instead should face justice for their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious leaders involved in the initiative emphasized that the dialogue should focus on the root causes of Congo\u2019s recurring crises since independence, particularly issues related to security, governance, economic development, social welfare, and national unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to reports, representatives of the Congolese government informed President Louren\u00e7o that Tshisekedi does not support the dialogue framework proposed by the Catholic and Anglican Churches and instead prefers a different approach to the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tshisekedi stated that the Congolese national dialogue must be organized and led by the DRC government and held in Kinshasa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Tshisekedi stated that Angola\u2019s role should be limited to engaging with Congolese individuals or groups unwilling to travel to Kinshasa due to security concerns. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since December 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola have been holding discussions on plans to organize an inclusive national dialogue aimed at bringing together different Congolese groups to address the country\u2019s ongoing challenges, particularly the worsening security crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000112166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[99],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000112165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000112166,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20230207005925510873_fouq3wixwaiqsed-1fe68.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":559,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20230207005925510873_fouq3wixwaiqsed-1fe68.jpg","width":150,"height":84},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20230207005925510873_fouq3wixwaiqsed-1fe68.jpg","width":300,"height":168},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20230207005925510873_fouq3wixwaiqsed-1fe68.jpg","width":768,"height":429},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20230207005925510873_fouq3wixwaiqsed-1fe68.jpg","width":1000,"height":559},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20230207005925510873_fouq3wixwaiqsed-1fe68.jpg","width":1000,"height":559}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000112165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000112216,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112165\/revisions\/2000112216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000112166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000112165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000112165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000112165"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000112165"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000112165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}