NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 1 —The EAC and SADC are bidding to consolidate all ongoing peace efforts in the eastern DRC into a single, unified African-led initiative, in an effort to end the decades-long conflict in the Central African nation.
The resolution was reached during a high-level co-chairs’ in Nairobi on Friday, co-chaired by President William Ruto of Kenya and President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, under the auspices of the African Union (AU).
“Today marks a turning point. There is now one African-led process that brings on board all the other initiatives — Nairobi, Luanda, and others — into one coherent mechanism on the situation in eastern DRC,” President Ruto said.
He explained that Friday’s session not only merged the various peace frameworks but also harmonized their terms of reference and secretariats, creating a central mechanism for mobilizing and managing resources for the process.
The new initiative will be steered by a panel of eminent African facilitators appointed jointly by the EAC and SADC, with coordination through a merged secretariat based at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The panel includes former African heads of state Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Catherine Samba-Panza (Central African Republic), Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia), and Mokgweetsi Masisi (Botswana).
AU-funded process
President Mnangagwa hailed the move as a demonstration of unity, stressing that “collaboration between the facilitators, the AU, SADC, and EAC is key to delivering a lasting solution to a conflict that has devastated the people of eastern DRC for far too long.”
According to a final communiqué read by SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi, the summit adopted several key decisions, including the formation of a Joint Secretariat merging the technical secretariats of the EAC, SADC, and AU to streamline coordination.
The meeting also endorsed documents outlining the facilitators’ mandate, mediation framework, and the new secretariat structure.
Ruto and Mnangagwa also agree that all funding efforts, including humanitarian support, will be coordinated through the AU.
The leaders pledged to align this African-led initiative with ongoing international efforts, including the Washington and Doha peace tracks.
President Ruto emphasized that the new process is “not in competition or conflict with other global peace efforts,” but rather designed to provide a framework for their alignment and effective implementation.
The two leaders resolved to convene an Extraordinary Virtual Joint Summit of EAC and SADC leaders will be held within seven days to formally adopt and communicate these outcomes.
Friday’s meeting was attended by the EAC-SADC panel of facilitators including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Catherine Samba-Panza (Central African Republic) and Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia).
Also in attendance were African Union Commission Chairperson Mohamud Ali Yusuf, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister Frederick Shava, and EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva.
