Rwanda, Congo ties to benefit the people

Presidents Kagame and Denis Sassou N’Guesso of the Republic of Congo said the strengthened relations between the two countries are designed to benefit the peoples of both countries. The Heads of State made the remarks during a news conference held at Village Urugwiro, yesterday, on the final day of President N’Guesso’s three-day official visit. In November last year, President Kagame visited the Republic of Congo where the two leaders agreed to strengthen relations and explore the opportunities of mutual benefit to the peoples of the two countries. “We have agreed in our discussions to open all opportunities that exist in our bilateral cooperation,” President Kagame said, yesterday. “The cooperation between Rwanda and the Republic of Congo is not limited to one area. We want to first work on the things that can benefit our people as soon as possible,” Kagame said. “There is no limit as to how much we can do but obviously some things are probably more difficult than others so we start with those that are possible and as we keep working and making progress in other areas.” The two leaders emphasized the need for Africa to stand united, noting that the collaboration between nations creates one voice. They, however, noted that there are still challenges resulting from different backgrounds and cultures of nations. “If you look at Africa with so many states, different backgrounds, histories, cultures and different influences acting upon them, you will understand how complex it is to come up with one position this is why there are efforts underway to bring the continent together,” Kagame said. The President called for joint efforts in serving the people and mutual understanding among African leaders pointing out that, currently, the continent is on the right path. “If we work together doing the right thing for the continent, people will move on. It is still much better if the whole continent would agree on important issues and carry them forward in the right way….There is cause for more efforts for people to work hard and together than it has been the case in the past. I believe we are on the right path,” Kagame said. He added that Africa needs to invest in capacity building so as to deal with challenges and weaknesses the continent faces. “We need to continue working on collaboration and building our capacities for us to confront problems as they keep coming. This is served well through relations built between countries and leaders,” President Kagame said. President N’Guesso concurred that the continent is on the right track. “It would be an exaggeration to portray Africa as disunited; otherwise we would not have successes in mobilizing the forces that brought Africa to liberate itself politically including the fight against apartheid,” N’Guesso said. “I believe Africa is today getting more organized to advance along the same direction otherwise we wouldn’t have had thousands of African soldiers taking part in peacekeeping missions…There are over 7000 African troops in Darfur defending the common African position. We have troops in Somalia helping Somalia regain stability,” he said. President N’Guesso further cited the Copenhagen negotiations on climate change where Africa spoke with one voice and was heard. The two Heads of State witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation by the Foreign Affairs Ministers from both countries. Ends

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Rwanda, Congo ties to benefit the people