Uhuru, Lourenço to Meet Tshisekedi for Talks on Eastern DR Congo War
In an effort to further efforts to put an end to the fighting in eastern DRC, the former president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, will go to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday for a 48-hour working visit.
Uhuru, Lourenço to Meet Tshisekedi for Talks on Eastern DR Congo War
In an effort to further efforts to put an end to the fighting in eastern DRC, the former president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, will go to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday for a 48-hour working visit. Mr. Kenyatta is serving as the mediator between the DRC troops and the M23 rebels on behalf of the East African Community.
In order to examine the security situation in the eastern DRC region, where combat between the Congolese army (FARDC) and the M23 is still fierce, Mr. Kenyatta will meet with President Félix Tshisekedi.
Kenyatta “plans to see over 50 representatives of the communities of the provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu as well as leaders of institutions” during his visit to the DRC, according to the schedule provided by the communication office of the Congolese president.
The third session of the Nairobi negotiations, which will take place in the last week of November, will be preceded by meetings with community representatives from the DRC’s troublesome provinces.
Resuming discussions in Nairobi
A statement from the East African community states that the Congolese government would pick up its negotiations with armed groups in Nairobi. After two rounds of negotiations in the Kenyan capital brought together 30 representatives of the armed factions in the pursuit of peace, this third session will take place.
Kinshasa is being persuaded to reintegrate the M23 into the process of peaceful peacemaking through the diplomatic engagement led by the heads of state of the East African area, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and the African Union. When the dialogue began in Kenya in April of this year, the rebels were not invited because of recent fighting with the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Meeting of Lourenço and Tshisekedi
Along with Mr. Kenyatta, President Joo Lourenço of Angola will meet with his counterpart in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, on Saturday after meeting with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda on Friday in Kigali.
In order to prepare for the arrival of President Lourenço, a mediator appointed by the African Union to relaunch the Luanda process, which entails setting up talks between Rwanda and the DRC in order to de-escalate the war in eastern Congo, a delegation led by the Angolan Minister for External Relations Tete Antonio is already in Kinshasa. Kigali has been charged with assisting the M23 rebels by the Congolese government.
According to Mr. Antonio, President Lourenço is trying to “listen to the two groups for a peaceful deal” as he “seeks a peaceful solution, through discussion, to put an end to the tension in the east of the DRC.”
Set parameters
The DRC government is putting restrictions on talks with the M23, which they categorically label as a terrorist organization.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula stated: “The M23 must stop its criminal activities; the M23 must withdraw from the occupied localities; all support for the M23 must cease; and the Congolese, who have been driven out by the violence of war, must return to their homes.”
These terms won’t change, we promise. The integrity and sovereignty of our nation are unnegotiable, he continued.
This implies that Lourenço and Kenyatta’s time in Kinshasa won’t be a walk in the park. At the same time, Mr. Lutundula predicts that President Félix Tshisekedi will find it challenging to renege on the demands he has made.
