By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, along with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, has been nominated to lead efforts in restoring peace in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where fighting has intensified.
Their appointment by the Eastern and Southern African regional blocs is part of an intervention to end the activities of the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group, which has seized large swathes of territory, triggering a humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC.
The East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have held dialogues in recent weeks to halt the fighting, which has displaced millions and left hundreds feared dead, including security personnel.
At a summit on 8 February, the two blocs resolved to merge two separate peace initiatives based in Luanda and Nairobi that had been in place before the recent escalation of the conflict.
On Monday, the blocs issued a statement announcing the appointment of the former leaders as “facilitators” of this new peace process.
The key aim of the latest initiative is to achieve an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” as well as to ensure humanitarian aid and the securitisation of Goma’s airport, a key city currently under M23 control.
The EAC and SADC are set to hold a ministerial meeting on Friday to “work on the details of the ceasefire,” the statement noted.
Despite the blocs’ call for an immediate ceasefire during the 8 February summit, M23 has continued hostilities, raising concerns over a potential coup.
M23 claims it is fighting to protect Tutsis and Congolese of Rwandan origin from discrimination and aims to transform Congo from a failed state into a modern one.
However, analysts have called those pretexts for Rwanda’s involvement.
