USAfricaonline.com
Eastern and southern African communities have announced the appointment of former leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria to oversee their peace process for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The heads of state of the East African Community and Southern African Development Community said in a statement that they had selected ex-Kenya president Uhuru Kenyatta, ex-Ethiopia prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn and ex-Nigeria president Olusegun Obasanjo as “facilitators” of their peace efforts for eastern DRC.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan is in the DR Congo, his office said Tuesday, as the country grapples with an upsurge in fighting in the east.
The M23 has in recent weeks seized two major cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, giving the armed group a major foothold in the region since taking up arms again in late 2021.
“We are extremely worried about recent developments in Congo, we know the situation particularly in the east is acute,” Khan told reporters on his arrival in the capital Kinshasa.
“The message has to be conveyed very clearly: any armed group, any armed forces, any allies to armed groups or armed forces don’t have a blank cheque,” he said.
“They must comply to international humanitarian law,” Khan added. AFP
