Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday is expected to chair an East African Community (EAC) meeting that will discuss the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s violence-torn east.
The summit will focus on the peace and security situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The meeting comes as tensions continue to escalate between Kinshasa and Kigali, with the DRC blaming neighboring Rwanda for the recent resurgence of the M23 rebel group.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing the rebels while both countries have accused each other of carrying out cross-border shelling.
People in the eastern DRC “have long suffered and continue to pay an inordinately heavy price in loss of lives, property and elusive peace,” the Kenyan presidency said in a statement announcing Monday’s meeting in Nairobi.
Last week, President Kenyatta called for the deployment of a regional EAC force in eastern DRC to restore peace, but Kinshasa said it would not accept Rwanda’s participation in the operation.
Regional commanders of the EAC were expected to meet on Sunday to finalise preparations for the deployment of the joint force.
President Kenyatta said the regional force will work alongside local provincial authorities and in close coordination with MONUSCO to disarm anyone bearing illegal firearms.
