By Chris Muhizi for MCN Wednesday June 28th 2023.
On Tuesday, June 27, in Luanda, the Quadripartite SADC, EAC, CIRGL, and AU conference came to an end with the creation of an agreement for directing the actions of all the forces deployed in eastern DRC. According to Christophe Lutundula Apala, the Congolese minister of foreign affairs, the DRC has been given the responsibility of leading this framework.
According to Minister Lutundula, the summit attendees decided that the DRC should coordinate on-the-ground operations:
“The DRC, which must assume ownership of the entire peace process, provides all leadership. We also concurred that the DRC gains from the African Union’s backing under this leadership.
He noted that the conversations were heated before reaching this compromise,
“Explain the functions of the African Union and the DRC, the coordination mechanism’s central hub and the country that is actually the subject of the question in question. The second issue is the precise structure of this quadripartite, which includes the African Union, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Is the quadripartite structure a mechanism? a second organ, perhaps? It is a venue for dialogue and integration, we came to the conclusion.
On Monday, May 8, in Windhoek (Namibia), the Southern African Development Community voted to send forces to eastern DRC to reestablish security and stability.
Thus, the SADC’s force should be joined to the EAC’s after it took back M23-occupied territory but was unable to put an end to the insurrection in North Kivu.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo demanded that the regional forces that will need to intervene in the eastern part of the DRC continue to coordinate their operations and tactics during the ministerial meeting of the Quadripartite summit on June 26 in Luanda, leaving the diplomatic and political aspects to the African Union.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula, Minister of Defense Jean-Pierre Bemba, and Minister of State in charge of Regional Integration Mbusa Nyamuisi spoke on behalf of the DRC at this event.
If this DRC perspective has been taken into consideration, it will be made clear in the final communiqué.
Before the approval of the final communiqué, which will outline the timeline for the actions to be taken to restore peace in the DRC, the Heads of State participating at the summit will also have a discussion moment.
This summit, hosted by the African Union and supported by the UN, attempts to coordinate and integrate all regional actions for real-world outcomes.
Source: radio Okapi