Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called for a ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and stressed that armed groups fighting in the area can be defeated by the East African Community (EAC) regional force.
«The political path begins with dialogue. Dialogue must be preceded by a ceasefire where there is active fighting and the withdrawal of forces,» he said, within the framework of the dialogue process between the Congolese government and various armed groups in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Thus, he stressed that «a peaceful solution must be the result of dialogue» and warned that «the armed groups that cause insecurity can be defeated if efforts are harmonized (within the EAC)», as reported by the Ugandan newspaper ‘Daily Monitor’.
«If any Congolese group does not respect the formula agreed after the dialogue, the combined East African forces will fall on them. No force can challenge the combined East African efforts,» the Ugandan president concluded.
The inter-Congolese dialogue, mediated by the EAC, includes community leaders from the east of the country to try to reach a peace agreement, in view of the upsurge in fighting, which has led the bloc to deploy a military mission in eastern DRC.
The new round of talks in Nairobi, which kicked off on Monday, comes after the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group said over the weekend that it accepts in principle the agreement for a cessation of hostilities in North Kivu province, although it warned that it reserves any right to respond to any attack.
DRC and Rwanda agreed to the cessation of hostilities, as well as a withdrawal of M23, as part of a summit in Luanda, the Angolan capital, to advance the normalization of diplomatic relations. The M23 has been accused since November 2021 of carrying out attacks against DRC Army positions in North Kivu, seven years after the parties reached a truce.
