Uhuru Wants Ituri, Kivu Declared ‘Weapons Free Zone’ and Armed Groups Disarmed

The Chairman of the East African Community (EAC), President Uhuru Kenyatta, has called for the declaration of Ituri, North Kivu (Bunagana, Bugusa, most parts of Petit Nord, Masisi, Lubero, Beni-Kasindi main axis) and South Kivu provinces as a Weapons Free Zone.

He said any individual or group carrying weapons outside the official and legally deployed and mandated forces in the country will be disarmed.

“In doing so, I call for the activation of the East African Regional Force under the auspices of the East African Community (EAC).”

The Regional Force is a component of the military/security enforcement track also provided for in the Communiqué adopted on 21st April 2022.

Kenyatta said the East African Regional Force shall be deployed to the Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces immediately to stabilize the zone and enforce peace in support of the DRC security forces and in close coordination with MONUSCO.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Kenyan president said the recent developments including, open hostilities, create a serious threat to the success of the regional leadership’s work including the promotion of outcomes of the Inter-Congolese (DRC) consultations of the Nairobi Process.

“I, therefore, call for an immediate cessation of all hostilities in the Eastern DRC and for all armed groups, both foreign and local, to lay down arms immediately and unconditionally and to commit to a political process.”

In this regard, the meeting of the regional Commanders of the respective Defence Forces, cooperating in the Nairobi Process, scheduled for Sunday 19th June 2022, in Nairobi, should finalize preparations to undertake the deployment of the Regional Force.

The Regional Force will work with local provincial authorities to support an orderly and permanent disarmament process under the Programme de Desarmement, Demobilisation, Relevement Communautaire et Stabilisation (P-DDRCS) in order to create enabling conditions towards stability and peace in the eastern DRC.