DRC President in Uganda for Two-Day State Visit

By Kampala Post Reporter

STATE HOUSE, ENTEBBE President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo of the Democratic Republic of Congo says he is consulting elders in the region to see how his country can shift from a conflict zone to economic cooperation, as he arrives in Uganda.

This he said on Saturday as he was being received by President Yoweri Museveni at State House, Entebbe. The DR Congo leader is in Uganda on a two day state visit.

“I admire your knowledge on the history of this region. That is why I came to you and agreed with you that we must engage more in trade instead of conflicts. Am happy that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is in place to promote trade and bring our countries together. I’am consulting elders in the region to see how we can shift from the conflict zone to economic cooperation. Unfortunately, some of the regions in my country are still in conflict,” Tshisekedi told his host.

He said he is also consulting on eliminating the negative forces in the region through reconciliation and repatriation so that they can live peacefully as one people.

“We need your knowledge, wisdom and guidance to reach far that is why we are here,” he said. Tshisekedi commended President Yoweri Museveni for the warm welcome and apologized for the delay on arrivals saying it was because of issues of ‘protocol’.

“There was a change in protocol, when I came here before, I was in the opposition, now this is different…they played our real national anthem,” he said.

President Yoweri Museveni welcomed his guest to Uganda and said he was happy that despite the colonial borders, they are slowly coming back together as Africans.

“The people of Uganda and DR Congo are the same. We have a long history with Congo and East Africa. Am happy that despite colonial borders, we are coming together slowly as Africans. They struggled to remove Lumumba and Nyerere, but here we are,” he said.

President Museveni said for East Africa and Africa in general, prosperity comes from doing business with each other “because this helps us to produce goods and services instead of importing.”

“This means jobs for our people, taxes for our governments, this is how we survive,” he said. The two leaders later held a closed-door meeting.

President  Museveni had earlier opened the Uganda-Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) joint Business Forum at Munyonyo, emphasizing that African countries should promote trade as one of the strategies that will ensure the survival of the continent and the prosperity of the people.

The one-day conference attended by business delegations from Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo is running under the theme, ‘Promoting Bilateral Trade for Mutual Peace and Prosperity’.