BUJUMBURA July 8th (ABP) – The heads of intelligence and security services of Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania held their fourth meeting on July 6, 2021, in Bujumbura, with a view to of the review and adoption of the action plan of the Contact and Coordination Group (CCG), we learned from the final communiqué released on the sidelines of that meeting.
That press release, which was read by the head of the Rwandan intelligence services and head of the Rwandan delegation to that meeting, Mr. Vincent Nyakagunda, specifies that this meeting was preceded by a consultation of experts held in date of July 5, 2021 in the same city.
The meeting was facilitated by the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) as the guarantor institutions of the Framework Agreement for the peace, security and cooperation for the DR Congo and the region. The National Monitoring Mechanism (MNS) of the DRC, the UN Mission for Stabilization in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the Extended Joint Verification Mechanism (MSVE) of the ICGLR also took part in the meeting, continued the ICGLR. communicated.
While expressing their gratitude to the President of the DRC, Mr. Félix Antoine Tchisekedi, for having accepted to host the GCC operational cell in Goma, the heads of the intelligence and security services as well as the representatives of the institutions of the Agreement. -frame reiterated the imperative of a comprehensive approach to neutralizing negative forces.
That press release clarified that the mission of the GCC as a key instrument of the said approach is to identify and implement non-military measures complementary to enhanced military action by states in the region. Participants stressed the need for the GCC to work in complementarity and coherence with existing national, regional and international mechanisms.
Heads of intelligence and security reviewed and adopted the GCC’s two-year action plan. The axes of intervention of this action plan are in particular, the facilitation of the disarmament and repatriation processes of negative forces through an approach involving local communities and civil society; the prevention of the resurgence of negative forces through the fight against the supply networks of arms, troops and finances as well as the strengthening of cross-border cooperation in order to generate economic opportunities aimed in particular at young people.
The participants agreed that the adoption of the action plan constitutes the first concrete step in the implementation of the comprehensive approach aimed at neutralizing negative forces in the GLR, it was said in the statement. He added that they also agreed that the experts seconded to the operational cell, which is in charge of the preparation and the implementation of the strategy of engagement of the negative forces, will be appointed and will begin their activities in a one month after the adoption of that press release.
A technical workshop devoted to the review of the modus operandi and the financing of the activities of the operational unit will be organized in Goma in August 2021.
The heads of the intelligence and security services also agreed to maintain that framework for consultation and decided to hold their 5th meeting in Kigali in the Republic of Rwanda at a date to be determined after consultations.
The meeting participants expressed their gratitude to the Office of the UN Special Envoy for the GLR, the Office of the AU Special Representative for the GLR and the Executive Secretariat of the ICGLR for their continued support for cooperation. regional security.
They paid tribute to Ambassador Basile Ikuebe, the AU Special Representative for the GLR for his contribution to the implementation of the Framework Agreement, especially in the area of security cooperation.
The heads of the intelligence and security services thanked the government of the Republic of Burundi for the exceptional welcome and hospitality extended to their respective delegates, the statement concluded.