By Lisa Zengarini
Following an emergency summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) last week on the crisis in DRC, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo has expressed support for the immediate opening of negotiations with all parties involved in the conflict.
Speaking at Mass on Sunday, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kinshasa stated that it is urgent time to take action by implementing a new dialogue strategy to save the nation that has been torn by violence for three decades.
The M23 offensive in East DRC
In late January the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, the most powerful of the more than 100 armed groups vying for control of Congo’s mineral-rich east have seized the city of Goma and are now advancing in South Kivu province, marking the worst escalation of fighting in east DRC since 2012.
In an attempt to defuse the crisis which risks conflagrating into a regional conflict, African leaders held an unprecedented joint summit of Eastern and Southern African blocs on Saturday. Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania the Heads of State and Government of the eight-nation East African Community (EAC) and 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) urged all parties to hold direct talks. Congo’s government, that accuses the M23 to be a Rwandan proxy, said on Sunday that it had taken note of the decisions adopted during the meeting.
Cardinal Ambongo: dialogue is the only way out
In his homily on Sunday, Cardinal Ambongo said there is no more time to lose to start dialogue, “a sacred word”, he said, warning that DRC is in danger of falling apart. “Everyone must agree to sit around the same table and resolve their differences through dialogue, following the African tradition of discussion”, he urged, recalling the recent joint roadmap for peace and social cohesion presented by the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) aimed at ending the conflicts that have marred the country for three decades. . “If f we want to save our country, let’s not waste any more time ” pleaded Cardinal Ambongo.
Dialogue is the sacred word, the key term that can help us get out of our current situation. We will find solutions to our decades-long crises by engaging in dialogue, even with those we consider our enemies.
The African emergency summit in Dar es Salaaam on DRC
According to the final communiqué, the summit in Tanzania specifically decided on the cessation of hostilities and an immediate, unconditional ceasefire, which both state and non-state parties must adhere to.
It also called for the reopening of Goma Airport and key land and lake supply routes to allow for humanitarian aid delivery, as well as the repatriation of deceased soldiers and the evacuation of the wounded.
Other decisions from the summit included developing a security plan for the city of Goma and surrounding areas, convening a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the EAC and SADC armies within five days to verify the implementation of the agreed measure; strengthening coordination and structural complementarity between the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes, and adding facilitators from other African regions to assist in merging the two processes.
Furthermore, the communiqué states that the joint summit called for a plan to neutralize the Hutu-led Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) lifting Rwanda’s defensive measures, and withdrawing all foreign forces from Congolese territory as stipulated by the Luanda Process.
It also requested a joint ministerial meeting of the two blocs within 30 days to assess and support all these decisions.
For its part, Congo’s government said on Sunday that it had taken note of the decisions adopted during the summit.
Worsening humanitarian crisis
The new upsurge of fighting in East DRC has killed and uprooted thousands in what was already one of the world’s most dire humanitarian crises. The United Nations have reported mass violations including summary executions, gang rape and sexual slavery in the wake of the capture of Goma. According to the U.N. human rights office M23 fighters, Congolese soldiers and pro-government militias were all implicated in these violations. – Vatican News
