At the invitation of His Excellency Denis SASSOU-N’GUESSO, President of the Republic of Congo, President in office of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and at the request of His Excellency Faustin Archange TOUADERA, President of the Central African Republic, it was held on Saturday December 26, 2020, by videoconference, the Xth Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS, devoted to the serious deterioration of the political and security situation in the Central African Republic.
These High Personalities took part to this session:
-His Excellency Denis SASSOU N’GUESSO, President of the Republic of Congo, Chairman in office of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS;
– His Excellency Mr. Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea;
– His Excellency Mr. Faustin Archange TOUADERA, President of the Central African Republic;
– His Excellency Mr. Félix Antoine TSHISEKEDI TSHILOMBO, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo;
– His Excellency Mr. Évariste NDAYISHIMIYE, President of the Republic of Burundi;
The Representatives of the Heads of State of the Republic of Angola, the Republic of Cameroon, the Gabonese Republic, the Republic of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe, and of the Republic of Chad.
Ambassador Gilberto Da Piedade VERISSIMO, President of the ECCAS Commission also took part in that work.
In his speech, the current President, His Excellency Denis SASSOU N’GUESSO, thanked his peers for having responded favorably to his invitation for the holding of the Xth Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government devoted to the degradation and worsening of the political and security situation in Central African Republic. He then invited them to implement the principles of solidarity, mutual assistance, complementarity, subsidiarity, collective responsibility and non-indifference towards the Central African Republic, plunged into a new crisis that worsened in the approaching of the presidential and legislative elections of December 27, 2020. He also called on political leaders and the leaders of Central African armed groups to turn their backs on violence, to favor dialogue in all circumstances and to create the conditions for credible elections, transparent and peaceful. The incumbent President Denis SASSOU N’GUESSO expressed the need to find a lasting solution to the Central African crisis, with strong participation from the region whose fate is inseparable from that of this sister country.
After the presentation of the salient aspects of the crisis in recent weeks by the President of the Central African Republic, H.E Faustin Archange TOUADERA, the Conference also followed the presentation of the Report on the political and security situation in the Central African Republic made by Ambassador Gilberto da Piedade VERISSIMO, President of the ECCAS Commission.
From this presentation, it emerged that the Central African Republic is once again experiencing a multifaceted crisis that has continued to worsen with the approach of the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for December 27, 2020.
This crisis is marked by deep dissensions between the political actors on the electoral process; as well as by armed clashes in several localities of the country between a new coalition of rebels and the Central African armed forces, supported by MINUSCA.
The President of the ECCAS Commission ended his remarks by wishing that this crisis be dealt within its entirety, taking into account all dimensions.
After an in-depth analysis of the situation and fruitful exchanges between the participants, the Conference unequivocally condemned the use of violence as a method of resolving the crisis and any attempt to question the established constitutional order; the conference condemned in the strongest terms the violence that claimed the lives of three Burundian MINUSCA soldiers and offered its most saddened condolences to the Burundian people as well as to the United Nations; the conference made it clear that such violence should be prosecuted; the conference called for the immediate cessation of hostilities throughout Central African territory and the withdrawal of rebels from all front lines; the Conference called for the continuation of the current electoral process and called on the Central African people to go to the polls in mass tomorrow, December 27, 2020; the conference called for the opening of an inclusive political dialogue after the elections and under the aegis of ECCAS; the Conference instructed the ECCAS Commission to continue contacts aimed at the designation of a Permanent Mediator of the Central African crisis, in accordance with the Libreville Declaration of November 27, 2020 and the operationalization of a permanent mediation framework for sustainable peace in CAR; the conference instructed the ECCAS Commission to work on the development and implementation of programs: disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, reform of the security sector, transitional justice “truth-justice and reconciliation”, and securing and developing cross-border areas; the Conference requested the support of the Member States, which have the capacity to do so, to express their solidarity with the Central African Republic, including by sending armed troops to help it recover the integrity of its territory ; the Conference once again urged the technical and financial partners, whose commitment and considerable efforts it has already made, to continue their support by supporting the implementation of a robust reconstruction and post-conflict reconstruction program development with a view to finally creating the conditions for lasting peace in the CAR; The Conference once again called on the Security Council of Nations to end the arms embargo in CAR in order to allow the Central African Government to equip itself for the rise of the Central African Armed Forces.
The Conference addressed a motion of thanks to the President of the Republic of Congo and to the Congolese Government for the organization of this Xth Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS.
