The heads of state of several East African countries called on Friday February 17 for a "
withdrawal of all armed groups
" by March 30 in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), plagued by violence, announced the East African Community (EAC) on Twitter.
This meeting of Heads of State of the East African Community, made up of seven countries, was held in particular in the presence of the Presidents of the DRC Félix Tshisekedi and of Rwanda Paul Kagame, in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on the eve of an African Union summit.
“Immediate ceasefire”
The leaders called for a "
withdrawal of all armed groups
" as well as the return of those displaced by the conflict.
On February 4, at a previous Heads of State meeting, the EAC had called for an "
immediate ceasefire by all parties
" and a withdrawal of all armed groups, "
including foreigners
".
But the fighting continued.
Numerous armed groups have plagued eastern DRC for decades, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that erupted in the 1990s-2000s.
In the Congolese province of North Kivu, the M23 ("
March 23 Movement
") has seized large territories rich in minerals since November 2021, and continues to advance despite a roadmap for peace concluded in Luanda, in Angola, in July 2022.
If the DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23, which is corroborated by UN experts and Western countries, Kigali denies it.
In addition to the presidents of the DRC and Rwanda, the Kenyan heads of state William Ruto, the Tanzanian Samia Suluhu Hassan and the Burundian Evariste Ndayishimiye were present at this mini-summit.