Angolan President João Lourenço has secured a second five-year term to rule his country.

 

 On August 29, the Angolan National Electoral Commission (CNE) unveiled the result of the August 24 ballot, reporting that the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won 51.17 percent of the ballots against 43.95 percent for the main challenger, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

 

Lourenço’s MPLA could have faced an unusually strong challenge from an energised opposition led by UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Júnior but, in the end, it won anyway.

 

Known to be courageous and fearless, in 2017, Lourenço initially took over from José Eduardo dos Santos, who had ruled for 38 years, as Angola and ruling  MPLA leader following a general election, the first time Angola had seen a peaceful transfer of power.

 

Lourenço, considered to be a loyal MPLA soldier – a man who has always been ready to take on greater responsibility in the governing party – was the country's defense minister before becoming the ruling party's flag-bearer in the 2017 parliamentary election to replace long-term President dos Santos.

 

The winner of the closely fought August 2022 election in the oil-rich country promised to be the "president of all Angolans" noting that his was a victory for Angola and Angolans in general.

 

Lourenco, 68, in his inaugural address, said: "This vote was a vote of confidence, which gives us the immense responsibility of promoting dialogue and social consultation.”

 

Lourenço also promised to press on with political commitments with courage and responsibility during his second mandate.

 

In some way, Lourenço’s win is not only a win for Angolans. It is a win for the wider region, especially considering that the Angolan leader has championed efforts towards enhancing peace and security in the region.

 

In July 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda started dialogue, in the Angolan capital, after weeks of increasing tension caused by the resurgence of the M23 rebellion in eastern DRC.

 

Lourenço was, at the time, appointed by the African Union to mediate talks between DRC’s President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame.

 

Following the talks, Lourenço said: “I am pleased to announce that we have had positive results, in our view, in that we have agreed on a ceasefire, among other measures.”

 

The Luanda talks came at a time when relations between Rwanda and its vast neighbour were at their lowest. The DRC accused its neighbour of sponsoring the M23 rebels. Rwanda denies any involvement in the internal affairs of the DRC. Rwanda also pointed the finger at the Kinshasa government for the regional instability. Kigali mainly accused the DRC of supporting the FDLR, a genocidal militia group formed by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

 

The Angolan leader's peace efforts are not new. In August 2019, the presidents of Rwanda and Uganda signed an agreement in Angola to end months of tensions after the two leaders exchanged accusations of spying, political assassinations and meddling. The signing of the pact in the Angolan capital was then witnessed by Lourenço, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Felix Tshisekedi and Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso.

 

Lourenço hailed the agreement saying it illustrated the two presidents' "willingness to overcome conflict.” Trade had been severely disrupted when Rwanda abruptly closed the border with its northern neighbor, severing a major economic land route. The route is now open.

 

In the past few months, relations between Rwanda and Uganda have improved. There is Hope that things could get better. The common border was reopened in January 2022 after nearly three years of inactivity.

 

There is no doubt that Lourenço was an important mediator in efforts to defuse tensions.

 

Beyond the East African Community, Lourenço also made a mark in the Central African Republic (CAR) when he held several mini-summits, in January and September 2021, that led to the drafting of the Joint Roadmap for Peace in the conflict-torn country. His efforts in CAR positively impacted on the search for a solution to the crisis in the country.

 

In February 2021, as the crisis escalated in the Central Africa Republic, where armed groups were going head-to-head with the re-elected President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Lourenço was digging in, trying to mediate. The International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) was due to hold another mini-summit on the Central African crisis, in Luanda, just like the first which was held on January 29 that year. Lourenço sought to help resolve the Central African crisis.

 

There is no doubt that Lourenço’s second term will cement his commitment to regional unity and reconciliation processes as well as the search for peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa.