Will Nairobi stop the DRC’s gunfire?

Arusha. Will Uhuru Kenyatta’s well articulated Nairobi Process finally silence the guns in eastern DR Congo?

These are among questions that linger among the regional leaders as Kinshasa appears to have given an ultimatum to the crisis.

Wednesday’s meeting between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and regional facilitator on the crisis ex-Kenya president Uhuru Kenyatta ended with intriguing decisions.

Among them is that all foreign armed groups in the vast Congo territory that do not voluntarily surrender will have to pack and go. They have to return to their countries of origin short of which they would be forcefully ejected from that country.

Their local counterparts (a rag tag of armed militia groups) should unconditionally disarm and embrace dialogue.

The latter group will have no choice but to join the East African Community (EAC)-led process in the quest for a lasting solution to insecurity in the area.

The ultimatum-like decisions have been made as insecurity has worsened in eastern DRC with the country’s forces neck to neck with M-23 combatants. It remains to be seen how the decisions will be successfully implemented given the fluid situation which has persisted for years. Mr Kenyatta, who facilitated the peace dialogue even before stepping down in September this year, was in Kinshasa this week.

His meeting with President Tshisekedi centred on how to defuse the latest wave of violence which has claimed lives, leading to a humanitarian crisis.

As expected they reaffirmed the commitment of the region towards a comprehensive approach to restoration of security in eastern DRC.

The Congolese who have borne the brunt of the violence that has gripped the region for decades were once again told to rally behind the Process.

But a communique issued yesterday by the EAC secretariat was not categorical on the implementation of what was agreed in Kinshasa.

It only said the third round of the Inter-Congolese dialogue will commence in Nairobi on November 21st, 2022.

All Congolese are encouraged - in the spirit of inclusivity - encouraged to take advantage of the Process and participate in it.

The communique has no mention of M-23, an outfit that has been blamed by Kinshasa on the recent flare-up of violence in eastern Congo.

Read: Kenya sending troops to DR Congo to fight rebel advance

At times, the focus has been turned to over 100 armed groups believed to operate across the large swathes of eastern Congo.

If reports on the resurgence of violence are anything to go by, then Kenyatta’s mission is already hampered even before it formally starts to act.

He was quoted by the wire agencies saying that the rebel groups and their backers have not honoured their pledges.

Kenya,which has sent contingents of troops there - alongside with other countries - hinted at disarmament and demobilization of armed groups as among ways to effectively tame violence there.

“If those two tracks fail, we will of course use force during a joint operation (against the rebels) with the Congolese army”, a commander of the new EAC force said.

Some regional observers say although dialogue would still be used to tackle the crisis, the eastern DRC troubles are far from over.

Various countries and processes have been involved and these include Angola whose President Joao Lourenco was in Kigali last week.

The Luanda Process is largely seen as an attempt to ease the tension between DRC and Rwanda, which has been accused of backing M-23. Rwanda has denied the charges.

Burundi, which is the current Chair of the EAC Summit of Heads of State, is among countries which have deployed troops to eastern Congo.

The country’s leader President Evariste Ndayishimiye met the EAC Facilitator Mr. Kenyatta on November 4th in Bujumbura to discuss the peace deal.

However, it was apparent in their meeting that resurgence of violence undermined the gains already made in finding a lasting solution to the crisis.

Nevertheless, it was in Bujumbura that “all the foreign armed groups” should return to their countries of origin unconditionally.

It has not been specified which of dozens of such armed outfits operating from the jungles of Congo were foreign-based.