Final Communiqué of the Fourth Summit of Signatories to the Agreement for a Cease-Fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo

1. At the invitation of His Excellency Mr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, S.C., President of the Republic of Zambia, the signatories to the Agreement for a Ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held their Fourth Summit in Lusaka, Zambia, on 3rd April 2002. The third meeting took place in Lusaka on 15th February 2001.

2. The Summit was attended by all the parties to the Agreement namely; Their Excellencies, the Presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the Minister of External Relations of Angola and the Minister of Defence of Uganda; as well as leaders of the following non-State Parties; the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD); the Congolese Rally for Democracy – Liberation Movement (RCD-ML). The witness to the Ceasefire Agreement namely; Zambia, the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations also attended the Summit. The Summit was also attended by the President of the Republic of South Africa as host of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue (ICD) and Sir Ketumile Masire, Facilitator for the ICD.

3. The Summit congratulated His Excellency Mr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, S.C., on his election as President of the Republic of Zambia and for his assumption of the Chairmanship of the peace process in the DRC. The parties also acknowledged the contribution of the former president, Dr Frederick JT Chiluba, to the search for peace in the DRC.

4. The Summit reviewed the implementation of the Agreement for a Ceasefire in the DRC and was to this end, briefed by the current Chairman of the Political Committee, Honourable Joao Bernardo de Miranda, Minister of External Relations of Angola; the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ambassador Amos Namanga Ngongi; and the Facilitator for the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, Sir Ketumile Masire.

5. The Summit considered the following issues on its agenda:

progress on the full implementation of the plans and sub-plans for the disengagement and redeployment of forces;
phase III deployment of MONUC and status of implementation of the plans on DDRRR;
progress on the implementation of the plans for the withdrawal of foreign forces;
progress in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue.

6. The Summit noted that while the Ceasefire Agreement was largely respected, some ceasefire violations had occurred in the eastern part of the DRC. The Summit in this regard, called upon all parties to fully comply with their obligations under the Cease-fire Agreement, the Kampala plans and Harare sub-plans for the disengagement and redeployment of forces, and the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

7. The Summit in this respect welcomed the withdrawal of the RCD from Moliro and similarly, the withdrawal of DRC Government forces from Yayama in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1399/2002 of 19th March 2002 and the decisions of the extra-ordinary meeting of the Political Committee of 20th March 2002.

8. With regard to disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration (DDRR) of armed groups, the Summit called upon the parties to co-operate with the JMC/MONUC in the voluntary disarmament and demobilization of armed groups. The Summit also appealed to the international community for financial, material and human resources for the DDRR exercise.

9. The Summit noted that encouraging progress achieved earlier in the withdrawal of foreign forces had slowed down. While acknowledging the need to accelerate this process in a time bound programme for withdrawal that conforms to the Ceasefire Agreement, the Summit also called on MONUC to deploy peacekeepers with an appropriate mandate in order to prevent the creation of a security gap as foreign forces withdraw..

10. The Summit acknowledged the positive developments in the Inter-Congolese political negotiations and urged the Congolese parties to reach a consensual political agreement as quickly as possible in order to restore the unity and stability of the country and hasten its progress towards democracy and development.

11. The Summit expressed gratitude to His Excellency Mr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, S.C., and to the government and people of Zambia for the excellent facilities put at its disposal and their kind hospitality.

DONE at Lusaka, 3rd April 2002