Kinshasa, June 13th, 2021 (CPA).– The Minister in charge of Transport, means of communication and opening up (Transvcomd), Chérubin Okende Senga, reaffirmed the commitment of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to organize, during this year 2021, the 8th session of the office of the West and Central African Maritime Organization (OMAOC), during an interview Thursday with the secretary general of this organization, Alain Michel Luvambano, indicates a press release from the Ministry of Transvcomd received Saturday at the CPA.
The source notes that the exchange of views between Minister Okende, current President of the OMAOC and the Secretary General of this African organization also focused on the prospects, reforms and transformation of OMAOC into OMA, before add that the said forum of African ministers in charge of maritime transport should be entrusted to Ghana following the non-payment of the DRC’s contributions to the African maritime organization.
The Secretary General of the OMAOC, on the other hand, praised the dynamism with which the Minister of Transport and current president of the organization has displayed, with regard to the organization of this forum. At the same time, he invited the Minister of Transport Okende, in his capacity as current president of the OMAOC, to the inauguration of the maritime library next July, in Ivory Coast.
Minister Okende, for his part, reassured his host of the determination of the DRC government to organize the assizes in Kinshasa. For him, the organization of this forum in the capital is part of the vision of the President of the Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, according to which the DRC must be present in all the major meetings of the world.
OMAOC is an intergovernmental organization created on May 7th, 1975 through the Abidjan charter on maritime transport. It has 25 (twenty-five) member states, of which 20 (twenty) coastal states and 5 (five) others landlocked. Since its creation, the organization has had 5 (five) general secretaries, including the one in office since November 2011, Ambassador Alain Michel Luvambano of Angolan nationality. This organization’s mission is to promote profitable maritime transport services, in order to enable Member States to control in particular the cost of transport by sea for their foreign trade; maritime safety and security; capacity building for maritime transport players and others, it should be remembered. ACP/