The third round of the Nairobi peace talks between the DR Congo government and armed groups operating in the country have been cancelled. The talks were scheduled to resume on Monday, November 21, but reports say the Kinshasa government has declined to engage the M23 rebels.
A source in Nairobi told The New Times that there is no date set yet for the talks to resume and that the way forward remains unclear. The first two rounds of the inter-Congolese dialogue held in Nairobi at the facilitation of the East African Community (EAC) failed to achieve tangible results.
The list of those who will participate in the Nairobi process is yet to be communicated.
President Felix Tshisekedi was supposed to travel to Nairobi for talks but instead, his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto flew to Kinshasa to meet with Tshisekedi.
Since May this year, the M23 group launched renewed attacks on the Congolese government forces, and has captured key territories toward Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
President Tshisekedi’s government labelled the M23 as a terrorist movement, excluding them from the Nairobi talks.
After meeting Tshisekedi last week, former Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, the EAC facilitator of the peace process, said the third round would commence on Monday, November 21 in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Kenyatta and Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the EAC chairperson, had scheduled the talks on November 17, but they were postponed until November 21.
Media reports say the Congolese government has declined to engage the M23 rebel group, asking them withdraw from the territories the held since April this year. However, M23 has also said that they need to be part of the talks before discussing withdrawal.
Global leaders have called on both parties to respect the peace processes already in place.
Besides the Nairobi process, the Angola-mediated Luanda roadmap to bring peace to DR Congo and mend the country’s strained relations with Rwanda.
For close to three decades, the eastern DR Congo has known no peace and remains the sanctuary of over 120 local and foreign armed groups. Among those include the FDLR terrorist group which is composed of remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
EAC countries have resolved to deploy troops to DR Congo in a bid to restore peace to the country’s restive eastern region.
Kenya has already deployed 900 troops and Uganda recently announced it would deploy 1,000 soldiers.
However, the commander of the EAC forces said the political processes were the priority.