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Three former Presidents to join Uhuru Kenyatta and Obasanjo facilitate talks to end war in eastern DRC
🟥 5-member Panel of Facilitators
✳ Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria
✳ Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
✳ Kgalema Motlanthe, S. Africa (NEW member)
✳ Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia (NEW member)
✳ Catherine Panza, CAR (NEW member)
Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT & THE NEW TIMES OF RWANDA | The 2nd joint Summit of East African Community and Southern African Development Community (EAC-SADC) Heads of State on the escalating security situation in Eastern DRC, has appointed three former Presidents to a panel of facilitators to guide the peace process.
The summit, held virtually, resolved to expedite the peace process by appointing an expanded panel of five facilitators. They are former Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa), Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia) and Catherine Samba-Panza (Central African Republic).
The meeting, that was attended by all the region’s leaders including Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Felix Tshisekedi of DRC, also adopted a report of the EAC-SADC Ministers that outlines the steps to a ceasefire, cessation of hostilities and the setting up of a secretariat to monitor implementation of the decisions of the joint summit.
“The Joint Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) (hereinafter called Joint Summit) held a virtual Meeting on 24th March 2025 in a warm and cordial atmosphere to deliberate on the report of the joint EAC –SADC Ministers on the security situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),” SADC said in a statement.
The virtual joint Summit was co-chaired by President William Ruto of Kenya, who is the Chairperson of the EAC, and the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who also doubles as the Chairperson of SADC.
During Monday’s meeting, President Kagame reiterated Rwanda’s positions.
“Rwanda remains concerned about our security, and this must be addressed within the framework of dealing with problems of other countries, including DRC as well. When we talk about sovereignty and territorial integrity, it should mean every country. Every country deserves respect of its territorial integrity or its sovereignty,” Kagame said.
He added that, “If you want the war to end, you end the injustice, you end political problems for not only your people, but for others, including neighbors, that are affected. I think we are making progress. We are counting on everyone to help make positive contributions towards ending all of this.”
The SADC/EAC meetings
When leaders from the two regional blocs first met, on February 8, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern DR Congo through the Africa-led Luanda and Nairobi peace processes was among the key resolutions of their meeting. The first joint EAC-SADC summit reaffirmed the critical role of the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes and directed that the two be merged.
Another key element from the February summit was the leaders’ call for the implementation of an earlier approved harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR, a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The genocidal militia poses an existential threat to Rwanda, the entire region, and especially the Congolese Tutsi communities it has been persecuting, resulting in the ongoing crisis in the region.
The regional leaders’ second joint session, deliberated on the report presented during the joint EAC-SADC ministerial meeting held on March 17, in Harare, Zimbabwe.
This evening, I attended the Virtual Joint EAC-SADC Summit , discussing the security situation in the Eastern DRC and finalising the appointment of facilitators. pic.twitter.com/2USFWOCMTz
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) March 24, 2025
The Congolese request for female representation in the panel of peace facilitators has been granted by the joint SADC-EAC summit.
ex-Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde has been appointed to the team of former African leaders tasked with mediating peace in the DRC. pic.twitter.com/iXQcil52Yk
— Mwangi (@MwangiMaina_) March 24, 2025
The March 17 ministerial meeting pledged to urgently put to action a joint roadmap to bring an end to the crisis in the eastern DR Congo.
His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa participates at the virtual 2nd Joint Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) – East African Community(EAC) Heads of State and Government Summit on the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The 2nd Joint… pic.twitter.com/KP3LwZkv9T
— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) March 24, 2025
The meeting, which was convened in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, agreed that the roadmap will elaborates a comprehensive approach encompassing both political and military interventions. At the time, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, Amon Murwira, said these measures are required to address the complex security and humanitarian situation in DR Congo, in the immediate, medium and long-term.
“It is our conviction that the decisions we have adopted, will provide impetus to our peace efforts towards resolving the protracted conflict in our sister Republic, given that no-one but ourselves will bring the peace we want in our two regions,” Murwira said.
“We have also pledged to urgently put to action the joint roadmap, which elaborates a comprehensive approach encompassing both political and military interventions required to address the complex security and humanitarian situation in the DR Congo, in the immediate, medium and long-term.”
The co-chair of the EAC-SADC ministerial meeting, Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, commended Angolan President João Lourenço, who is also the current chairperson of the African Union, for initiating efforts to have direct negotiations between the Congolese government and the AFC/M23 rebel group.
Angola has since pulled out of this process, with Lourenco handing it over to SADC-EAC, to concentrate on his new rule at the African Union.
Mudavadi said all parties converging at the table for talks was the only viable option to bring sustainable peace in DR Congo. “I think what will be important is for us to consolidate and make sure that what EAC and SADC are doing, we move in tandem on these issues,” he said.
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