Luanda, 14 January 2014
President Kagame arrived today in Angola where he will be attending the fifth Ordinary Summit of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region. This year’s ordinary summit will bring together heads of states and representatives from ICGLR twelve member states and will mark the transfer of chairmanship from President Museveni of Uganda to President Dos Santos of Angola.
The summit takes place in the midst of conflict in several great lakes country including Southern Sudan, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo and seeks to reaffirm its commitment to peace and security in the region.
Speaking to the press, Ambassador Karegeya of South Africa spoke on Rwanda’s contribution to the region:
“Rwanda will be sending troops to the Central African Republic. We believe in peace and security in the region.”
The heads of states meeting was preceded by the Regional Inter-ministerial Committee that brought together Foreign Ministers to discuss the security situation in the great lakes as well as the progress since the last ICGLR ordinary summit held in Kampala. Additional meetings held prior to the heads of state meeting including the meeting of Chiefs of Intelligence Services and General Chiefs of Defense Staff as well as a meeting of Defense Ministers.
The 5th Ordinary Summit will be held under theme “Let’s promote peace, security, stability and development in the Great lakes Region.”
The Summit also marks the first participation of Kenya, the recently added 12th member of the ICGLR. Kenya joins Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republice of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.