The number of facilitators in the ongoing Democratic Republic of Congo peace process has been increased to five from only three members according to the outcome of the Monday virtual joint summit of Heads of State and Government of SADC-EAC.
According to a joint communiqué, the new facilitation team includes; Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia), Catherine Samba-Panza (Central African Republic), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), and Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa).
Following this appointment, the final communiqué revealed that a joint SADC-EAC briefing is planned with the five facilitators in the presence of the African Union and the UN.
This should take place within the next seven days to effectively launch the implementation of the decisions of the SADC-EAC joint summit held previously in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
“The EAC and SADC Secretariats are to inform the Facilitators of the unanimous appointment of the Joint Summit and transmit the outcomes of this Summit to the AU and UN Council; the Joint Summit has tasked the Co-Chairs (ie William Ruto and Emmerson Mnangagwa) to convene a briefing with the panel of Facilitators within the next seven days; this briefing should be jointly organized by SADC, the EAC and the African Union,” reads in part the final communiqué.
The summit welcomed the efforts made by the two regional blocs to restore peace in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The Joint Summit expressed its gratitude to the Chairpersons of the EAC and SADC for their successful co-chairing of the virtual Joint Summit and for their leadership in achieving lasting peace and security in eastern DRC and the region; the Joint Summit expressed its gratitude to the EAC and SADC Secretariats for the preparatory work undertaken for the Summit,” the meeting’s final communiqué added.
The new appointments are part of the merger of the Luanda and Nairobi processes, under the supervision of regional leaders.
According to a communiqué from the Joint Summit of SADC and EAC Heads of State, held on February 8 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the facilitators will be tasked with coordinating diplomatic and security efforts towards a lasting ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
