BUJUMBURA March 6th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi, at the same time current Chairman of the East African Community, Evariste Ndayishimiye, chaired, on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the presidential palace Ntare Rushatsi, an advisory coordination meeting of the joint mechanism for the implementation of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the M23 in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
That meeting, which took place behind closed doors, resulted in a final communiqué which was read by General Major Ally Mzee Katimbe, the military adviser to the Secretary General of the EAC.
According to that communiqué, the expert team leaders in charge of the verification mechanism in eastern DRC encouraged the member countries of the EAC which have not yet deployed their troops, to do so as soon as possible in order to restore peace and security in that part of the DRC.
The experts also pledged to put in place the enforcement mechanism aimed at implementing the decisions taken at the Summits of Heads of State and Government members of the EAC, which respectively took place in the DRC, in Nairobi and very recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
That mechanism will consist of a joint office whose primary role is to meet, within a period not exceeding one week, the belligerent parties and the representatives of the government of the DRC, the implementation of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the M23 in the various occupied areas, namely Kibumba, Gishishe, Kiwanca, and elsewhere, to be a reality.
Furthermore, the communiqué continues to say, the meeting participants made a strong appeal to the African Union (AU) and other partners to provide a cornerstone to the implementation process for the restoration of peace and security but also and above all stability in that part of the DRC plagued for some time by armed conflicts.
The President of the Republic of Burundi had the opportunity to thank the participants for the work they had just done.