AU Commission President Wants Immediate End To Crises In Eastern DR Congo

The President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has called for immediate implementation of the resolutions arrived at during the meeting of leaders of the East African Community (EAC) on security in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I exhort the immediate putting in place of their decisions to re-establish peace in eastern DR Congo,” the AU Commission president declared after the meeting.

The leaders of the East African Community (EAC) met in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, June 21, to discuss ways to end the ongoing armed conflict in Eastern DR Congo.

The AU Commission President congratulated them on the successful hosting of the third conclave and commended the decisions reached at the end of the meeting.

The EAC leaders; Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, Félix Tshisekedi of DR Congo, Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya who all participated at the meeting agreed to institute a regional force.

They also called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern DR Congo.

Dr John Steven Simbachawene, the Tanzanian High Commission in Kenya, represented the United Republic of Tanzania at the meeting. 

The meeting did not disclose the detail of the regional force concerning its composition, mandate and duration.

The regional force will operate under the command of Kenya and would have to cooperate with the army and administrative staff of DR Congo.

DR Congo had demanded that Rwanda should not be part of the force, but the final communique after the Nairobi meeting was quiet on the Congolese demand.

Another critical decision of the conclave was the call on the M23 to withdraw from the zones it captured. 

M23 movement, which Rwanda supports, has opened the Bunagana border and installed a parallel administration.

Meanwhile, the EAC leaders called for an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal from positions recently acquired by the rebels. 

They also called for the intensification of the political process by the DR Congo government with the armed groups.

According to the Congolese government, 56 armed groups and 40 Congolese leaders have already been consulted by DR Congo and Kenyan experts within the context of the Nairobi process.

The regional leaders equally listed some problems that deserve concerted, urgent and sustainable solutions.

The problems include the presence of foreign fighters, the disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion programme and the status of refugees and internally displaced persons.

They also condemned hate language and declared their determination to find a rapid and sustainable solution to the conflict in DR Congo.

Gen. Robert Kibochi, the Kenyan Chief of Defence forces, the president of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Forces of the East African Community, presented the conclusions of the meeting they held on the eve of yesterday’s discussion on the future regional force to the heads of state.

One of the documents presented underlines the problem, analyses the threats, the concept of operations, the accord on the statute of the forces etc.

There were also engagement regulations and judicial and technical regulations to facilitate the operationalisation of the regional force and its various branches. 

The heads of state adopted the three documents.