Nairobi — Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for support from the East African Community (EAC) regional force in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as a neutral force to support Nairobi-led mediation efforts.
The former Head of State who is the facilitator to the EAC-led inter-Congolese dialogue on the restoration of peace and stability in Congo urged for support on Thursday when he met with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region Huang Xia.
“The East African Regional Force (EAC-RF) must continue to enjoy the confidence of all parties if it is to be successful in its mandate,” he said.
The former Head of State who is mediating the conflict in the volatile region on behalf of the seven-nation EAC bloc emphasized that the situation in the eastern DRC remains of grave concern, particularly concerning the humanitarian and security dimensions.
“The critical challenge has been building trust between the various fighting elements and governments, as well as the communities, especially those affected by the insecurity in the region,’ he said.
He underscored that the issue regarding the humanitarian condition of the population remains of dire concern and requires greater attention and support from the international community.
Militias have plagued the mineral-rich region for decades, many of them a legacy of regional wars that flared during the 1990s and the early 2000s.
For sustainable peace, the former President rooted for the mobilization of the international community around the EAC-led Process.
Since November 2021, a rebel group known as M23 has seized chunks of territory in the east and come within miles (kilometers) of its main commercial hub Goma.
The DRC accuses its smaller central African neighbor Rwanda of backing the M23.