Negotiation, not combat, is what will help restore peace in Eastern DRC - Mudavadi

Kenya has joined other East African Community and Southern African Development Community member States in calling for cessation and ceasefire in the conflict prone eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kenya wants all stakeholders be brought to the negotiating table as part of facilitating return to normalcy in DRC.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said the only way out is to shun endless combat and give dialogue a chance.

"Peace is not like instant coffee. You cannot brew it. We have a golden moment as EAC and SADC to help the people of DRC," Mudavadi told the ministerial meeting in Dar es Salaam over the conflict situation in easten DRC.

He said embracing urgent peace initiatives will not only be essential for Eastern DRC but also for the two regions and Africa as a continent.

"As we seek a joint resolution following numerous earlier initiatives, we need to understand that insecurity and conflicts in one region can escalate and destabilise the whole world," Mudavadi emphasized.

Mudavadi, who is also the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs CS, regretted that the long-drawn conflict in the eastern region of DRC has, and continues to claim millions of lives and displacing countless civilians; with children, women and persons with disabilities bearing the brunt.

A major risk he told the meeting is that the conflict continues to rapidly mutate into other forms of threats to human security and dignity such as sexual exploitation, abuse and gender-based violence as a mode of war, illicit exploitation and trafficking of natural resources, swelling war economy and erosion of state institutions and authority.

Mudavadi, who heads the EAC Foreign Ministers caucus, co-chaired the Friday meeting with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Prof. Amon Murwira, who is the Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister and doubles as the Chairperson of SADC council of ministers.

This is ahead of Saturday's Heads of State and Governments Summit, which will be attended by President William Ruto.

“This situation demands our immediate, collective, and sustained attention. In this way, we aim to respond in a timely manner to the immediate concerns of peace, humanitarianism, human security, and sustainable development.” he said.

Noting the urgency of the implementation of key recommendations that will arise from the joint regional meeting, the Prime CS said Kenya condemns the recent attacks on peace missions in DRC saying it was a stark affront to civility and a violation of the tenets of multilateral collective security.

Mudavadi said the pressing issue of the security situation in the DRC and its implications to regional and continental stability calls for action now rather than later.

“As we give dialogue a chance, there is need for all parties in the DRC to respect international law including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and ensure the safety of diplomatic assets and personnel within the country, as well as uphold long-lasting legal and moral principles of respecting peace missions,” he noted.

Mudavadi reiterated that failure for the regional bloc to intervene and help DRC stabilize will soon plunge a fair part of the continent into insecurity and endless conflict.

“What is happening in DRC should prick our collective conscience to the view that insecurity in one part of the world ought to be considered as insecurity in the entire world and thus, all of us should collectively seek to address it. This, indeed, is one of the cardinal points of our current joint meeting,” he noted.

“This ministerial meeting and the Joint EAC-SADC Summit by the Heads of State and Government must therefore provide direction on the best way forward regarding peace and security in our sister country.”

Mudavadi explained that by helping restore peace and normalcy in the conflict prone regions in Africa will help the continent grow on an upward trajectory towards overcoming the existing menace of mercenaries and foreign fighters whose role is often inimical to the objectives of the African peace and security architecture.

He pointed out that EAC and SADC already have two significant peace initiatives, namely the AU-led Luanda process and the EAC-led Nairobi process.

These processes, he said, need to be harmonized and merged to eliminate overlapping elements and be managed jointly for effective results to be achieved.

“Such a joint approach will go a long way in eliminating the coordination challenges of multiple peace and security initiatives which in the long run could work at cross-purposes and hamper the effective implementation of peace approaches in Eastern DRC. What we are looking for is not adversarial but a joint position that will yield impactful and practical results," explained Mudavadi.

The Prime CS said the prosperity of the two regional blocs and individual states and governments largely depends on the security of DRC, saying cohesion of the regions will be advantageous to the citizens of all nations.

The conflict situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) pre-dates 1994 and has escalated overtime with several illegal armed groups, including the ADF, FDLR, LRA, and Red Tabara, continuing to operate in the Eastern DRC.

In 2012/13, 35, local armed groups were known to operate in eastern DRC and have since morphed into about 150 local armed groups with presences in the North and South Kivu provinces.

Reports show that over the last twenty-six years a number of interventions have been employed at various levels and have registered mixed results.

The various interventions undertaken have been at regional, continental, and United Nations levels.