Following a call from the extraordinary SADC summit held in Harare, Zimbabwe last week to restore peace in the DRC, Tanzania will host a joint peace summit of two regional blocs today.
The two-day indaba ends tomorrow.
DRC president Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame have reportedly confirmed attendance at the meeting, which will be preceded by a ministerial meeting today before the Heads of State convene tomorrow.
The meeting follows an agreement between Kenya’s William Ruto, the East African Community (EAC) chair, and Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, who chairs the SADC.
The summit will bring together SADC and EAC leaders under one roof.
It will focus on the conflict in eastern DRC caused by a war between M23, backed up by Rwanda, and the Congolese army.
Ruto announced this week that president Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania had agreed to host the summit to deliberate on the situation in eastern DRC. The meeting will take place following the decision by both regional blocs during separate meetings held last week in Harare to discuss the conflict in eastern DR Congo.
At their meeting, the SADC heads called for an immediate joint summit between SADC and EAC to coordinate efforts to resolve the issue before it degenerates to other countries within the region. The summit expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis and the worsening security situation in the region.
At the meeting, Mnangagwa said: “The summit expressed deepest condolences to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the republics of Malawi and South Africa, and the United Republic of Tanzania for the soldiers who lost their lives during the recent attacks in Sake, eastern DRC, while serving under the SAMIDRC, and wished those injured a speedy recovery.”
The leaders acknowledged that despite previous diplomatic interventions, peace in eastern DRC had remained elusive.
They called for immediate action to protect civilians and ensure the provision of essential services such as electricity, water and food that have been disrupted by the fighting.
The summit also mandated the SADC Organ Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation to engage all parties to the conflict in ceasefire negotiations.
The summit was attended by several Heads of State and Governments, as well as their representatives, including Duma Boko of Botswana, Tshisekedi, Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar, Daniel Francisco Chapo of Mozambique, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Hassan, Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane of Lesotho and Thulisile Dladla of Eswatini.
Ambassador Téte António of Angola and Malawi’s minister of foreign affairs Nancy Gladys Tembo likewise attended the summit. Namibia was represented by defence minister Frans Kapofi. Approached for comment, presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari could not confirm whether President Nangolo Mbumba will attend today’s joint meeting. “I cannot confirm anything at the moment. But if anything comes up, I will communicate,” he said.
-ljason@nepc.com.na