By Chris Muhizi for Minembwe Capital News Monday June 19th/2023.
An announcement made in a document from the Primature that was used by the Congolese press agency stated that the preparations for the Roundtable on the State of Displaced Seat in the Provinces of Ituri and North Kivu began on Monday, June 20.
November of the previous year should see the organization of the roundtable that will decide the fate of the state of seat in the provinces of the North Kivu and the Ituri. Patrick Muyaya, minister of communication and media, and government spokesperson, had made the announcement on October 13th.
Several members of the government, the national North-Kivu and Ituri assembly, as well as some senior FARDC and Congolese Police officers and public figures, including civil and religious leaders.Radio Okapi reports
The President of the Republic announced the holding of a roundtable to discuss the requirements for the requalification of this measure, and this meeting is in response to the various recommendations made by the government of the Republic regarding the state of emergency declared in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces.
Following the mission carried out by Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, the President of the Republic held a three-hour meeting with the leaders of the Ituri and the North Kivu to also discuss the ground situation.
This roundtable’s organization is anticipated for November. There will be participation from the civil society and other relevant parties. The failure to organize elections in the provinces where the state of the seat is in effect, much less the failure to implement the development plan for 145 territories, was never intended, according to Patrick Muyaya.
A meeting to assess the state of affairs in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which had been in effect since May 6, 2021, was already led by President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo on May 4, 2022 in Kinshasa. It had been announced at the time that “a roundtable discussion to determine the future of this exceptional regime” would take place soon.
After 15 months since his appointment to the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, the head of the government had traveled there to assess the state of the seat.
Because the expected goals have not been met, as well as the fact that local armed groups and ADF activity have contributed to the generalization of insecurity, some segments of the population and some lawmakers have called for the lifting of the state of seat during the administration’s time in these two provinces.
They urge that power be returned to the people and suggest reclassifying the status of the state of seat.
