Within the framework of the peace process in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, sent, this Tuesday followingnoon, 07, to Kinshasa, the Minister of State and Head of the President’s Military House, General Francisco Pereira Furtado, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, for a meeting with President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.
Yesterday, despite the declaration of cessation of hostilities issued by the M23, local sources say that in the morning the rebels recaptured another location north of Sake, having continued fighting until the followingnoon, in the territory of Masisi, in North Kivu, eastern DRC .
The M23 released a press release announcing the effectiveness of the ceasefire as of this Tuesday, constituting a “response to the commitments assumed before the current president of the CIRGL in Luanda in order to open the way to direct dialogue with the Government of Kinshasa”. However, in the same press release, the rebels said they reserved “the right to defend themselves should their positions be attacked”.
It should be recalled that on Friday the 3rd, President João Lourenço sent a delegation led by the Minister of State and Head of the Military Household of the President of the Republic, to inform the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, of the results of the contacts maintained with the leadership of the M23.
According to a statement from the presidency, it was agreed to cease hostilities throughout the eastern region of the DRC, as of 12 noon on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, and to monitor compliance with the cessation of hostilities by the Ad Hoc Verification Mechanism .
Contact with the M23 was guided at the Mini-Summit on peace and security in the Great Lakes region, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 17, 2023. The Heads of State and Government mandated the Republic of Angola, in coordination with Uhuru Kennyatta, facilitator appointed by the East Africa Commission to maintain contact with the leadership of the M23, in order to transmit the decisions resulting from the Addis Ababa meeting.
