EAC Chair-Burundi President Ndayishimiye in Nairobi for Third Inter-Congolese Dialogue
The East African Community (EAC) chairman and President of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye is set to launch a weeklong Third Inter-Congolese Dialogue beginning today in Nairobi.
Ndayishimiye arrived in the country yesterday and met with President William Ruto at State House.
He was received by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Ndayishimiye is the current Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit.
The EAC-Led Nairobi Process, on restoration of peace and security in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – Third Inter-Congolese dialogue will run until December 2022.
The meeting is aimed at accelerating the ongoing regional efforts to attain sustainable peace and security in Eastern DRC as elaborated by various efforts of the EAC Heads of State.
The peace talks reaffirm the commitment of the Heads of State of the EAC, Great Lakes region and Africa at large, to finding lasting solution to the security challenges in the Eastern DRC.
Kenya plays a crucial role as a member of the East African Community in support of the ‘Nairobi Peace Process’ that involves talks between the government of DRC and the armed groups aimed at restoring peace and security in Eastern DRC.
Kenya has sent its troops for a peacekeeping mission in the region as part of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF).
Ruto reiterated Kenya´s commitment to a permanent solution to the conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Early this month, retired President Uhuru Kenyatta was in the Democratic Republic of Congo for high level consultations with DRC’s President Phillip Tshisekedi on the quest for peace in the Eastern DRC.
Ruto reiterated Kenya´s commitment to a permanent solution to the conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The dialogue under EAC-led peace process has been re-energized to incorporate local DRC community leaders and stakeholders to bring a comprehensive solution the security situation.
The meeting came a week after EAC Heads of State held a high level consultative meeting on the peace process in Eastern DRC with a view to strengthen the political track.
The meeting chaired by president Ndayishimiye committed that all seven EAC partner States will now be fully involved with the process, with each Head of State forwarding a technical advisor to support the facilitator of the EAC peace process.
These consultations are a follow-up to the Inaugural Inter-Congolese Peace Consultation (Nairobi I) that was held in April 2022; the Second Inter-Congolese Peace Consultations, a scoping and mapping mission in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu (Nairobi II) which took place in May 2022 in the DRC.
This culminated in the 22nd Ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of State and Government, which appointed retired president Kenyatta as the EAC Facilitator of the Nairobi Peace Process.
Nairobi III comes after the official visit of President Kenyatta, EAC Facilitator of the Nairobi Peace Process to Bujumbura on November 4, 2022 where he met with President Ndayishimiye,
President of the Republic of Burundi and the Chairperson of the East African Community Summit and to Kinshasa and Goma, DRC.
Thereafter, the EAC facilitator attended the Mini-Summit (Luanda II) on Peace and Security in the Eastern Region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Luanda, Angola on 23rd November 2022 chaired by João Lourenco, President of the Republic of Angola.
