Ex- leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria have been appointed to oversee a push for peace in eastern DR Congo.
The appointment was made on Tuesday after two regional African blocs — the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – dwelt on ways to install a ceasefire in the eastern DRC.
The two blocs announced that ex-Kenya president Uhuru Kenyatta, ex-Ethiopia prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn and ex-Nigeria president Olusegun Obasanjo had been appointed “facilitators” of a new peace process.
The EAC and SADC agreed at a summit on February 8 to merge two separate peace processes — based in Luanda and Nairobi — that were operating before the latest escalation of violence.
In a joint statement the EAC and SADC said the ex-leaders will be responsible to facilitate an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” as well as humanitarian deliveries and securitization of the airport at Goma.
The Rwanda-backed M23 has in recent weeks seized two major cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), giving the armed group a major foothold in the region since taking up arms again in late 2021.
DRC Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said Monday that “more than 7,000” people have been killed in the region since January. The numbers could not be independently verified.
MG/abj/APA