African Union group due in DRCongo in wake of polls

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

African leaders who met to discuss the post-election tension in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have agreed to send a high-level delegation to that country led by Rwanda's president, the chair of the African Union.

“The Heads of State and Government agreed to urgently dispatch to the DRC a high-level delegation comprising the Chairperson of the Union (Rwandan President Paul Kagame) and other Heads of State and Government, as well as the Chairperson of the AU Commission,” said the communique, issued late Thursday from countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Great Lakes Region meeting under the auspices of the African Union.

Meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the countries said the delegation would interact with all Congolese stakeholders to help reach a consensus on a way out of the post-electoral crisis.

“The meeting urged all concerned actors in the DRC to interact positively with the high-level African delegation in the interest of their country and its people,” the communique said.

The heads of state and government reiterated the AU’s determination to continue to accompany the people of the DRC in this process.

On Dec. 30 the Democratic Republic of Congo held elections for its first-ever democratic transfer of power since the country achieved political independence in 1960 from Belgium. But the results have been scrutinized after the two declared losers contested the polls.

Last Thursday, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was declared the winner by the electoral commission with 38.57 percent of the vote.

Rival Martin Fayulu, with 34.8 percent, appealed the result to constitutional court.