H.E. (Rtd) President Uhuru Kenyatta, the EAC-Facilitator of the Nairobi Process on Peace and Stability in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and AU-Kenya Peace Envoy, says his work has been severely hampered by the unfolding dreadful humanitarian crisis in and around Goma city.
“It is virtually impossible for him to fully realize the potential of his role when the fighting and the wholesale displacement of towns and villages is ongoing,” he said in a statement issued by the Consulate of the Republic of Kenya in Goma, DRC.
Kenyatta made an official visit to Goma on November 15, 2022, as part of his outreach sessions with stakeholders.
Upon arrival, the former President was on his way to visit a camp of internally-displaced people near Goma when he was confronted with tens of thousands of internally displaced persons on the roadsides.
VIDEO: Kenya's former president Uhuru Kenyatta — a mediator for the seven-nation East African Community (EAC) — arrives in eastern DR Congo's main city of Goma, as fighting continues north of the city between the Congolese army and M23 rebels. pic.twitter.com/SPKDh8fCQY
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 16, 2022
The EAC Facilitator noted the misery, the cycle of conflict by armed groups, had inflicted on innocent men, women, children, and the old.
Thereafter, the former President held a Roundtable with representatives of the FARDC, MONUSCO, and the East African Community Regional Force and observed the adverse effect of the violence of M23 rebels and other armed groups amounted to grave human rights violations and has led to the displacements of millions in Eastern DRC.
He emphasized that the situation requires urgent intervention by the international community, AUPSC and UNSC.
The EAC- Facilitator called on the international community, and humanitarian organizations such as Unicef, WFP, IOM, and UN OCHA, to urgently and impactfully respond to assuage the terrible distress and human suffering.
He further observed that the terms of the Nairobi Conclaves, which had been agreed upon by all EAC Heads of State outlined that the fighting forces would remain in the positions that they were in at the time of the Nairobi Conclaves, have not been honoured by the rebel groups and their backers.
It is important to note, observed Kenyatta, that the humanitarian crisis that is now unfolding is a result of non-adherence to recommendations agreed upon in Nairobi during the Heads of State Conclaves.
The EAC Facilitator stressed that this is likely to undermine the military track that was predicated on everyone retaining their positions to allow for the East African Regional Force to interposition itself.
“This situation must be resolved to allow for the Facilitator to fully engage the EACRF to take their rightful positions and allow for the humanitarian situation to be resolved with utmost urgency.”
