Regional verification mechanism launched in Goma

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a regional bloc of 11 countries including Rwanda, yesterday launched the Joint Verification Mechanism (JVM), as part of efforts to resolve recurrent conflicts in eastern DRC.The Mechanism includes a team of 24 senior military officers drawn from all the member states, with Rwanda and DRC contributing three officers apiece, while the others sent two officers each.Rwanda is represented by Col Fred Muziraguharara, Maj Sam Ruhunga and Major Emmanuel Rukundo.The JVM, which was expanded during an ICGLR Heads of State Summit in Kampala, earlier this month, from the previous bilateral framework between Rwanda and DRC, is led by Uganda’s Brig Gen Godfrey Muhesi.Uganda currently holds the rotational chair of the ICGLR, and President Yoweri Museveni has chaired two extraordinary Heads of State summits in one month as the region seeks to resolve the conflict which pits the M23 rebels and government troops.The Chair of the Council of Defence Ministers, Uganda’s Dr Crispus Kiyonga, told reporters in Goma yesterday that one of the tasks of the verification team is to ensure that hostilities come to a complete halt. If peaceful means to end the conflict fail, he said, then the region will resort to force by deploying a proposed neutral force to disarm all the negative forces operating in eastern Congo.At the meeting, Rwanda was represented by Defence minister James Kabarebe, who was accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff Lt Gen Charles Kayonga.Rwanda’s Defence and Military Spokesperson Brig Gen Joseph Nzabamwita told journalists that part of the JVM mandate is to “monitor and validate all the issues related to the conflict,” including allegations of external support to the rebels.Member states will contribute funds for the operationalisation of the Mechanism, whose members will be based in Goma, the capital of the troubled North Kivu province which has since lost a significant territory to the M23 rebels.The crisis has strained relations between Kinshasa and Kigali, with the former accusing the latter of backing the rebels. The Rwandan government has denied the claims, and backed the regional verification process to find the truth.The ICGLR is composed of Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), DRC, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

National

Regional verification mechanism launched in Goma