By Ebi Kesiena
Kenya’s former President and facilitator of the East African Community-led peace process for DR Congo, Uhuru Kenyatta, on Tuesday, convened an urgent meeting with the bloc’s technical team to review the worsening situation in the country’s east.
In a statement from Kenyatta’s office explained that the meeting was necessitated due to the deteriorating security situation in eastern DR Congo, particularly in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, where serious escalation of fighting and targeted killings is reported to be taking place.
Fighting broke out last week between the Congolese armed forces, FARDC, and the M23 rebels in North Kivu, forcing Kenyatta to express concerns about the broken cessation of hostilities, as demanded for in the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes.
After reports of ethnic violence targeted at the Hema community in Ituri and Banyamulenge in South Kivu, on January 24, UN special advisor on genocide prevention Alice Wairumu Nderitu, issued the second statement in less than three months warning of genocide in the country.
Since 2017, the Banyamulenge community has been a target of ethnic cleansing despite numerous petitions calling for the international community to intervene and stop the continued brutal killings in South Kivu Province.
Following Tuesday’s consultation with the EAC technical advisors, in Nairobi, the facilitator called for calm and immediate cessation of hostilities.
Kenyatta “expressed deep concern to the serious violation of the Nairobi Principles and the Luanda Agreement” that was signed in November 2022.
He also called for “urgent return to dialogue and consultation in order to promote trust and confidence among the parties to the conflict and alleviate suffering of people.”
