DRC peace deal to be signed tomorrow

Rwanda is expected to participate in the signing of a new UN backed framework agreement to restore peace in eastern DR Congo.The signing will be held tomorrow in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.The signatories include 11 countries of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region; Rwanda Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia.Observers who will witness the signing include, South Africa, International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, African Union and the UN.The event will also be attended by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.Addressing journalists last week, Ban’s spokesperson, Martin Nesirky said that the agreement is aimed at pacifying the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.“All the invited Presidents have committed to either be there or delegate power to sign,” he said.The agreement was due to be signed during the previous African Union Summit but some countries objected over procedural concerns.The security plan that will be signed tomorrow would boolster the existing UN peacekeeping mission in DRC with a 2,500-strong intervention brigade to tackle militia groups in the war torn eastern DRC.The troops will be charged with tackling all armed groups that have terrorised DRC over the past 15 years, and with neutralising the threat of the armed groups through targeted operations against command and control structures in specific sites.The peacekeeping mission already deployed in DRC, Monusco, is the UN’s biggest. It currently has about 17,000 troops and, under its Security Council mandate, is allowed to have up to 19800. However, the mission has since been dubbed as a failure.

National

DRC peace deal to be signed tomorrow