Uhuru calls for immediate ceasefire in east DR Congo as fighting intensifies

Uhuru calls for immediate ceasefire in east DR Congo as fighting intensifies

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has condemned the recent violence in eastern DRC.

In a statement in his capacity as Facilitator of the EAC-led Nairobi Process for the Restoration of Peace and Stability in Eastern DRC, he called for an immediate ceasefire.

“The Facilitator appeals to all parties engaged in such acts to immediately cease their armed offensives and hostilities, so as to allow continued unhindered and sustained humanitarian access and to give a chance to a return to peace and the pursuit of a non-military solution to the crisis in the region through the EAC Led Nairobi Peace Process,” read Kenyatta’s statement. 

After a six-month lull, fighting resumed this month between local armed groups and the M23 rebel movement in North Kivu province, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

At least 20 civilians have been killed and 30 more wounded since 1 October and “the resumption of violent clashes” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), OCHA said.

“More than 84,700 people have been forced to flee their homes,” OCHA said, noting that access to aid “remains severely limited” due to the “intensification of fighting”.

The fighting is concentrated in areas where an East African force of several thousand troops was deployed in early 2023, in theory to patrol a buffer zone between the armed groups.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is preparing for elections on 20 December, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission. If all goes well, this could be the first election in a long time to be scheduled and held on time, allowing the country to maintain or change leadership by peaceful means for only the second time in history.