The President,
who arrived yesterday, will be leading the SADC Double Troika for the
crucial indaba with their EAC counterparts in a unique and extraordinary summit
that brings all parties involved in the decades-old conflict to the same table.
Today’s meeting
was preceded by a joint meeting of Councils of Ministers from SADC and the EAC
which discussed the deteriorating security situation in Eastern DRC, where
rebels have gained a foothold, leaving an estimated 2 000 people dead and
thousands more displaced.
The Joint
SADC-EAC Meeting of Ministers was co-chaired by Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs and
International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira and Kenya Prime Cabinet and
Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Dr Musaila Mudavadi.
Prof Murwira
said the joint effort involving Southern Africa and East Africa underlines the
importance of joint political and
diplomatic efforts for normalcy to prevail in the Eastern DRC.
“It is
regrettable that the security and humanitarian crisis in Eastern DRC continues
to deteriorate despite the noble efforts through the Luanda and the Nairobi
(peace) processes.
It is
heart-breaking that around 400 000 people have been displaced in the city of
Goma, this year alone,” said Prof Murwira.
DRC President
Felix Tshisekedi, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Tanzanian President Samia
Suluhu Hassan, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, Ugandan President Yoweri
Museveni and Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud are all expected to
attend today’s make-or-break talks.
SADC has 16
members and the EAC has eight but DRC, which has been plagued by conflicts for
years now, is along with Tanzania a member of both blocs.
Rwanda, which
is accused by the DRC of backing the M23 rebels that have taken key towns in
Eastern DRC, is a member of EAC. Rwanda stridently denies sponsoring renegades
in its neighbouring country.
Yesterday, SADC
Executive Secretary Mr Elias Magosi hailed the convening of the Joint Meeting
of SADC and EAC as a vital step in the spirit of solidarity and collaboration
between members of SADC and EAC in finding a lasting solution to the security
situation in the DRC.
The Joint
SADC-EAC Summit will be held in fulfilment of the decision of the Extraordinary
Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government of January 31 in Harare, where the
summit assessed the precarious and fast-evolving security situation in the
Eastern DRC, and called for an immediate joint Summit of SADC and EAC to find
the best way forward, and a collective approach to the security situation in
the DRC.
“Silencing the
Guns” is a key initiative within the African Union’s (AU) “Agenda 2063”, a
long-term plan aiming to achieve peace and sustainable development across the
continent by 2063, to end all wars and violent conflicts in Africa by
addressing the root causes of conflict and promoting dialogue-based conflict
resolution mechanisms; essentially, it’s a flagship project within Agenda 2063
focused on creating a peaceful Africa through conflict prevention and
resolution.
Further, the
summit urged political and diplomatic leaders engaged in the conflict to
collaborate in a unified dialogue effort.
This includes
backing the Luanda Process and the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation
Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to help restore peace and security in Eastern DRC.
Both the
African Union and the United Nations have called for a peaceful resolution to
the conflict in DRC, which threatens to throw the whole of the Great Lakes
region into a wider conflagration.
Ahead of the
joint summit, President Mnangagwa has said he is determined to ensure that guns
are silenced in the region
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