The East African Community leaders have called for inclusivity in intra-DR Congo dialogue and a cessation of hostilities in the eastern DR Congo. The call was made on November 7, in a high-level consultative meeting on the peace process in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held in Egypt on the sidelines of the ongoing international environmental conference, COP27. According to the communique released after the consultative meeting, leaders asked to warrying parties to give chance to the political negotiations due to resume on November 16, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. “The Heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to a political solution as the only sustainable path to security in Eastern DRC and underscored the need for inclusivity through the participation of all stakeholders in the political process,” reads part of the Communiqué released by the East African Community (EAC) which organized the meeting. The consultative meeting was attended by Presidents, Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, Paul Kagame of Rwanda; Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania andWilliam Samoei Ruto of Kenya. DR Congo was represented by its Prime Minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenje. They took stock of their respective countries’ commitment to contribute to the EAC special fund for the implementation of the peace process and urged all partner states to sustainably support the facility. “The leaders reviewed the recent developments in North Kivu, particularly the resurgence of violence, and called for the cessation of hostilities to give chance to the political negotiations due to commence on November 16, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya,” reads the statement. Considering that the force headquarters of the joint regional force of the East African community in Eastern DR Congo is based in Goma and that a regional force commander has been appointed and assumed duties, the summit decided that each partner state will deploy a liaison officer at the force headquarters to support the regional command centre, says the Communiqué. During the meeting, the heads of state commended the Burundi, Kenya, and Uganda who have already deployed forces in line with the agreed framework, and urged the republic of South Sudan to complete the deployment. According to the Communiqué, the heads of state reaffirmed the need for coordination and creation of synergy between the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) and the East African Regional Force for the sustainability of achieving peace in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The Heads of state agreed to appoint a technical advisor from each partner state to support the facilitator of the EAC peace process.
