East African Community (EAC) Heads of States Conclave on Inter-Congolese Dialogue of the Nairobi Process on the Peace and Security Situation in Eastern DR Congo are set to meet in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Presidents include; President William Ruto (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi), Salva Kiir Mayardit (South Sudan) and Felix Tshisekedi (DR Congo).
Currently, the mineral-rich country is grappling with insecurities by the M23 and the Allied democratic Forces (ADF) rebel groups in eastern DRC. According to The UNHCR at least 71,000 refugees have crossed into Uganda from the DRC since January, and that number is expected to double by the end of this year.
The latest advance from the M23 militia formed in 2012 to defend the interests of Congolese Tutsis against Hutu armed groups saw the rebels reportedly seize two towns, consolidating months of gains since its resurgence last year, after commanders many of whom had joined the national army accused the Government of failing to honour a demobilization agreement.
In September, the President of DRC, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi presided over the signing of an agreement giving green light to the deployment of the EAC Joint Regional Force, led by the Armed Forces of the DRC in Eastern DRC, to fight the negative forces.
The Agreement envisaged an initial deployment of the EAC Joint Regional Force for a period of six months after which the deployment would be evaluated.
Over the weekend, the DRC ordered the Rwandan ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours, after accusing Kigali once again of supporting the M23 rebels, a claim which has been repeatedly denied by Rwanda.
Recently, Museveni said the crisis in Congo needs a collective approach from all regional members of the East African Community. “We must insist on working together because these people have suffered a lot.”
According to Okello Oryem, the state Minister for Foreign Affairs, Museveni will join his counterparts tomorrow to discuss a long time solution to insecurities that have taken toll on Easter DRC.
“The EAC member states had agreed to jointly deploy in DRC however the move has been delayed by the sorts of events which included the change of leadership in Kenya and others,” he said.
Oryem said Uganda is ready to deploy in Congo for sanity. The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UDF) and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) are conducting Operation Shujaa aimed at flashing out the ADF terrorists in the DRC.
He blamed the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) for failing its obligations in Congo. He said the Organization has failed in its mandate and therefore needs restructured or sent out of Congo.
“MONUSCO has been in Congo for over 20 years but they are not doing anything to do with peace and stability in Congo,” he said.
He assured the country that during the joint deployment, the forces will not collide with the officers deployed under operation Shujaa because they know the geographical locations of the country and the operation will be successful.
Since the launch of operations in November 2021, the joint forces captured several ADF terrorists, killed and injured scores of them. Last month, the DRC renewed UPDF’S contract maintaining its presence in Felix Tshekedi’s country.
Over the weekend, the UN Secretary-General expressed deep concern over the uptick in fighting between Government troops in the DRC and M23 rebels in the east, which in the past ten days have seen multiple civilians killed, ‘massive displacement’ and four peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission (MONUSCO) injured.
Following his conversation with the Presidents João Lourenço (Angola), Félix Tshisekedi (DRC), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), William Ruto (Kenya), Macky Sall (Senegal), the Secretary-General called for immediate de-escalation and reiterated the full support of the United Nations for the ongoing mediation.
