President Mnangagwa Joins African Leaders at AU Su...

President Mnangagwa Joins African Leaders at AU Summit

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has departed Harare for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he will join fellow African leaders for the 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union summit. The summit, running under the theme "Justice for Africans and People of African Descent' Through Reparations," aims to tackle pressing political, economic, and social issues affecting the continent.¹

The President was seen off at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, as well as Government Ministers, Service Chiefs, and senior Government officials.

On the sidelines of the summit, President Mnangagwa is expected to hold bilateral meetings with other leaders to deepen cooperation and foster stronger relationships between nations.

A key issue on the agenda is the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the M23 armed group has seized parts of the mineral-rich east. An emergency session will be held on Friday to discuss the crisis and potential solutions.

The summit will also see the transfer of power, as Angolan President Joao Lourenco takes over the rotating presidency of the AU. A new chairman will be elected to replace incumbent Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad, who has reached his two-term limit. The contenders for the position are Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Kenyan Raila Odinga, and Madagascar's ex-foreign minister Richard Randriamandrato.