Three former African leaders to spearhead DRC peace process

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) have appointed three distinguished former leaders to facilitate peace negotiations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a joint statement released Monday evening.

Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn will lead the consolidated peace initiative, merging the previously separate Luanda and Nairobi processes that had operated in parallel without achieving lasting resolution.

This diplomatic breakthrough comes amid escalating violence following the M23 rebel group’s lightning offensive that captured the strategic provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu in North and South Kivu provinces. The appointed facilitators face the immediate objectives of securing an “unconditional ceasefire,” establishing humanitarian aid corridors, and ensuring operational safety for Goma’s critical airport infrastructure.

Regional leaders from both blocs had convened in early February, calling for immediate cessation of hostilities in the mineral-rich eastern region. SADC and EAC officials are scheduled to meet Friday to finalize ceasefire implementation details.

The conflict has claimed thousands of lives and raised fears of a catastrophic repeat of the Second Congo War (1998-2003), which involved multiple African nations and resulted in millions of deaths from violence, disease, and famine.

Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting M23 to control valuable mineral resources essential for electronic manufacturing. Kigali denies these allegations, countering that its security is threatened by armed groups including the FDLR, formed by former perpetrators of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

The tripartite mediation represents a unified regional approach to resolving one of Africa’s most complex conflicts.