Former President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, January 31, convened an urgent meeting with East African Community's technical advisers to address the deteriorating security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to a statement from the facilitator of the EAC-led Nairobi Process, the meeting was necessitated by reports of escalating fighting in Eastern DRC despite the earlier breakthrough in previous meetings.
Uhuru raised his concerns regarding the violation of agreed principles, upon which the delegates agreed to restore calm and revert to the ceasefire agreement.
In addition, the two antagonizing parties resolved to resume the peace talks in a bid to solve the disputes through dialogue.
“His Excellency President (Retired) Uhuru Kenyatta, in his capacity as the Facilitator of the EAC-Led Nairobi Process on the Restoration of Peace and Stability in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) convened an urgent consultation with the EAC Technical Advisors to the Office of the Facilitator to review the situation in eastern DRC," read a statement from Uhuru's Office.
"Following the advice of his Technical Advisors, the Facilitator once again called for a calm and immediate cessation of hostilities."
The intervention by Uhuru came days after a cease-fire deal was reached between the government of DRC and representatives of the rebels on January 12 in a meeting held in Mombasa.
In the meeting that brought together the leadership of key leaders of the rebels and representatives of the government, the parties resolved to continue with the orderly withdrawal from their occupied areas.
However, less than a month later, reports indicated that there was evidence of a fire exchange between the rebels and the loyal forces as the latter tried to repulse the rebels out of their held territories.
On Monday, January 30, the Congolese authorities wrote to the government of Rwanda demanding instant withdrawal of its forces from DRC.
In retaliation, the Rwandan government criticized the move- terming it as an attempt by DRC to cling to its neighbouring nation as a scapegoat for the instability experienced.
The development came amid intensified efforts by the international community to restore order in the DRC.
