This Saturday, East African heads of state gathered in Arusha, Tanzania for the EAC summit. A special summit organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the regional organization, but with a major absence: Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi. Moreover, the DRC had not sent a representative even though the situation in the east of the country was on the agenda of discussions since one of the resolutions of this summit actually concerns the subject.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Paulina Zidi
The EAC heads of state want the two processes working for peace in Congo to be merged. These are the Luanda process, under the aegis of Angola, and that of Nairobi, entrusted to former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.
If the first, centered on diplomatic relations between the Rwanda and the DRCexperienced progress last week with the signing of a first joint document, the Nairobi process is at a standstill, according to several experts. And this for several reasons. As a reminder, he focused on discussions with Congolese armed groups to achieve their disarmament and demobilization.
However, confides a security specialist in the region, some of these groups have taken up arms again and joined the large coalition of wazalendos who collaborate with the Congolese armed forces against the M23. As a result, according to our source, they can no longer be demobilized.
Another reason: the mistrust between Kinshasa and Nairobi. President Félix Tshisekedi notably criticized William Ruto for having “ mismanaged the Nairobi process and took up the cause of Rwanda “. The DRC was not represented in Arusha this Saturday and the authorities have not commented on this decision by the EAC.
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