This Sunday, December 15, Congolese President Félix Thisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame are expected in Luanda, Angola. The objective is to continue talks on the peace process for eastern DRC. An end to the crisis is eagerly awaited by the hundreds of thousands of displaced people who are piling up at the gates of the city of Goma, the regional capital. Everyone hopes to return home soon.
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For about two years, Zaché has been working as a second-hand phone dealer in the Rusayo 1 displaced persons camp. In his previous life, he was a trader and farmer in the hills west of Gomathe regional capital. An area that is still inaccessible, because it remains under the control of the M23 armed group supported by the Rwandan army, specifies our correspondent in Goma, Coralie Pierret.
“ We don’t understand why our government has failed. We have many men who can fight the enemy and dislodge them from the country. The rebels are fewer in number and we do not understand why they continue to gain ground. »
“Let them do their best so that we can finally return”
Zacché is not the only one to feel overwhelmed by the stakes of this war. Rosette, a mother, has not been home for two years either: “ I hope that the authorities will do everything so that we can return home. Here, we sleep and eat in poor conditions, the children do not go to school. Let them do their best so that we can finally go home. »
On the Congolese side, we are satisfied with the progress of this Luanda processbut we remain cautious about expectations for this meeting, specifies Patrick Muyaya, spokesperson for the Congolese government: “ The President of the Republic paid tribute to his Angolan counterpart. Because the question is not just a simple question of meeting, but it is more or less the culmination of the process of discussions which began in July 2022. On Sunday, we will go to Luanda with the idea of coming not only sign an agreement according to what is planned, but also to ensure that peace returns to the eastern part of the country, that the Rwandans withdraw their soldiers from our territories and that the populations gradually begin to return to their environment original. This is the main issue of all these discussions. »
In recent weeks, clashes have been concentrated in the Lubero territory, in the north of the North Kivu province. After several days of fighting and an advance by the M23, the Congolese army announced that it had recaptured a few villages, including that of Matembe, located on national road number two which connects the main economic centers of the province.
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