DR Congo talks open in Kampala

Senior officials from member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) arrived in Kampala yesterday ahead of the Heads of State summit due tomorrow.The gathering is one of a series of meetings that the ICGLR has lined up to help address the issue of armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more specifically the ongoing crisis.Yesterday, 11 ICGLR national coordinators and senior officials met at the Kampala Serena Hotel before a special session of the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee (RIMC) scheduled today.“The RIMC comprises Foreign Affairs ministers but, due to the nature of this meeting, even the Defence ministers will attend,” said Dorine Nininahazwe, the ICGLR Communications Officer.Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo and Defence Minister James Kabarebe are representing Rwanda.The meeting is expected to dwell much on the root causes of the armed conflict in Eastern DRC and seek solutions to the unfettered atrocious activities of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). The FDLR, a militia group based in the DRC, comprises elements responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that left more than one million people dead. The Kampala meeting, a result of which decisions taken by ICGLR Heads of State in Addis Ababa, last month, will also find remedies to the M23 rebels who have seized parts of eastern DRC leaving thousands of Congolese fleeing across Rwanda and Uganda’s borders.Faced with the armed groups problem, ICGLR Chiefs of Defence and intelligence recommended last week in Khartoum that the Joint Intelligence Fusion Centre (JIFC) in Goma draw up an operation plan by September for an infantry brigade intervention force that will be based on actionable intelligence. The UN Stabilizing Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) has repeatedly been reported as not offering a deserved solution to the DRC conflict.It has been blamed for turning a blind eye to the plight of the Congolese citizens by ignoring the atrocities committed by the FDLR but instead pamper the ragtag force.Meanwhile,several Heads of State of the ICGLR are expected to arrive today for the summit.

National

DR Congo talks open in Kampala