Democratic Republic of Congo Profile
25 March 2013 Last updated at 08:20 ET
Kenya wants to be enjoined in peace efforts in eastern DRC
Foreign Affairs principal secretary nominee Karanja
Kibicho at a past function. Kenya is seeking to be enjoined in the UN-mediated
Democratic Republic of Congo peace deal to end the perennial conflict in the
region. Photo/FILE Nation Media Group
By WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, July 27 2013 at 23:31
Posted Saturday, July 27 2013 at 23:31
In Summary
- “Kenya supports the regional and international peace initiatives that are aimed at bringing peaceful and durable solutions to the conflicts in eastern DRC, Central African Republic and in Sudan and South Sudan,” Mr Kibicho said.
Kenya is seeking to be enjoined in the
UN-mediated Democratic Republic of Congo peace deal to end the perennial
conflict in the region.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Karanja
Kibicho told the national coordinators meeting of the International Conference
on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) that Kenya wanted to play a key role in ending
the interminable cycles of violence in eastern DRC.
Mr Kibicho said the government welcomed the
peace, security and cooperation framework for the DRC and the region signed in
Addis Ababa in February this year.
The peace deal, which aims at ending the
turmoil in region mainly in the eastern DR Congo, was signed by Angola, Burundi,
the Central African Republic, Congo, DRC, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan,
Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
“Kenya supports the regional and
international peace initiatives that are aimed at bringing peaceful and durable
solutions to the conflicts in eastern DRC, Central African Republic and in Sudan
and South Sudan,” Mr Kibicho said.
“Kenya, however, looks forward to being
enjoined in the framework as soon as possible so as to continue to effectively
lend political and diplomatic support to peace building initiatives in the
region,” he said.
The PS also urged the region to pay more
attention to trade to improve the economic situation of the people as a way of
addressing security issues affecting the region to complement the framework of
the peace deal.
The ICGLR national coordinators’ meeting is
a first of several meetings which started yesterday at the Windsor Hotel. It
will be followed by a meeting of Defence Chiefs of Staff and Chiefs of
Intelligence at the same venue today and the regional ministers meeting on
Monday ahead of the official opening of the special summit of the ICGLR Heads of
State and Government by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday.
Among the Heads of State expected are the
presidents of Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia,
Central African Republic, the DR Congo and repWorld Bank and ADB.
Minister puts gangs on notice
PHOTO | JENNIFER MUIRURI | FILE Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku during a past briefing. NATION MEDIA GROUP
By AMINA KIBIRIGE akibirige@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, July 27 2013 at 19:00
Posted Saturday, July 27 2013 at 19:00
In Summary
- His words were echoed by Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo who said the flow of information is vital in fighting insecurity.
The government will not condone attempts to disrupt the peace and will be ruthless towards those who try to destabilise the country, the Interior Secretary has warned.
Speaking at a joint security meeting for Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi counties at the Kenya School of Government in Matuga, Mr Joseph ole Lenku called on administration and police officers to identify and take action on all security reports before the matters become national concerns.
“We need to identify and address wananchi problems at village level before they escalate and become national issues. If we had identified the sources and reasons behind groupings like MRC, Mungiki and other outlawed sects at the sub-location level, they would never have turned out to be national headaches,” he said.
His words were echoed by Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo who said the flow of information is vital in fighting insecurity.
“The sanctity of life must be respected at all times, and any aggrieved parties should have in mind other channels to address their issues with the government other than causing animosity,” he said.
Mr Lenku said citizens should feel the presence of government on the ground to feel adequately served and represented.
“Service delivery is our responsibility, our duty, our obligation,” he said. “In fighting insecurity, we need to collaborate so areas with common challenges can be addressed together.”
Produce evidence on M23 rebels, Rwanda tells the US
By Risdel Kasasira
Posted Friday, July 26 2013 at 01:00
Posted Friday, July 26 2013 at 01:00
Kampala- A Rwandan official
yesterday asked the US government to adduce evidence about claims that Kigali
has continued to support M23, the Congolese rebel group that has been fighting
to overthrow the Kinshasa government.
The Rwandan Ambassador in Uganda, Maj Gen Frank Mugambagye,
said the US warning to Rwanda on Wednesday to stop supporting M23 was based on
rumours.
“What
they have failed to find and will never find is evidence that we support M23
rebels. We have never supported M23 and we will never,” he
said.
“Anybody who claims Rwanda supports M23
should bring evidence not hearsay. Human Rights Watch says Rwandan soldiers, who
returned from the peacekeeping mission in Somalia were deployed in Congo. Rwanda
has never been in Somalia,” Maj Gen Mugambagye said.
The US State Department spokeswoman, Ms Jen Psaki, had said Rwanda should stop supporting the rebels and withdraw its military personnel from Congo.
The US State Department spokeswoman, Ms Jen Psaki, had said Rwanda should stop supporting the rebels and withdraw its military personnel from Congo.
Her country was yesterday
evening expected to issue a statement on the security situation in DR
Congo.
Rebel claims
Meanwhile, a Rwandan refugee claiming to be a Rwandan army deserter, Capt Vedaste Rusanganwa, has claimed he was sent to DR Congo to fight along M23.
Meanwhile, a Rwandan refugee claiming to be a Rwandan army deserter, Capt Vedaste Rusanganwa, has claimed he was sent to DR Congo to fight along M23.
“I was an intelligence officer and we
were sent to DR Congo but I abandoned the war after internal wrangles within the
Movement,” he said.
Capt Rusanganwa claims they are being trailed and harassed by the Kigali
regime.
Another refugee, Mr Pascal Manirakiza,
said he was a former student from CEPEM Secondary School in Ruhengeri but was
abducted from Rwanda and conscripted into M23 ranks.
But Gen Mugambagye dismissed the claims,
saying the two are using M23 to get refugee status.
Eastern DR Congo has remained
a safe haven for many rebel groups including Uganda’s Allied Democratic
Forces.
rkasasira@ug.nationmedia.com
DR Congo Asks Rwanda to Turn
Over M23 Rebel Leaders
| DR Congo Asks Rwanda to Turn Over M23 Rebel Leaders | |
Congo News Agency - July 26,
2013
| |
DR Congo’s government said on Friday it has
sent three international arrest warrants to Rwanda against former M23 rebel
leader Jean-Marie Runiga and commanders Baudouin Ngaruye, Eric Badege and
Innocent Zimurinda.
Violence the new normal in DRC, envoy says
Published: July 26, 2013 at 12:55 PM
UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (UPI) -- Violence in the eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo has become the "accepted normal" because of the
lack of attention, envoy Mary
Robinson said.
U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry chaired a meeting on security in the Great Lakes region of
Africa at the U.N. Security Council, where the United States holds the rotating
presidency of the 12-member body for July.Kerry last month appointed former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., to serve as a special envoy for the Great Lakes region, which includes trouble spots such as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda rebels rekindled conflict in the DRC side of the shared border this month. The Rwanda government, meanwhile, was accused of backing the March 23 Movement fighting against government forces in eastern DRC. "For far, far too long, far too many lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the broader Great Lakes region have been ravaged by targeted, grotesque violence," he said Thursday before the Security Council. The Security Council in March authorized a special brigade tasked with neutralizing armed groups by force if necessary. Renewed rebel conflict in eastern DRC coincided with the March decision. Robinson, former Irish president and U.N. special envoy to the Great Lakes region, said she was frustrated with the general lack of urgency surrounding conflict in DRC.
"Not a day goes by without a report of
killings, rape, sexual assault and displacement of people in eastern DRC," she
told the Security Council. "What strikes me is the lack of outrage and horrors
at this daily toll. It has become the accepted normal."
| |
| UN Security Council debate focuses on peace efforts for Africa's Great Lakes region | |
UN News Centre - July 25,
2013
| |
| The Security Council today restated its commitment to the United Nations-brokered peace accord for Africa’s strife-torn Great Lakes region and demanded an immediate end to hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. | |
DR CONGO
Phil Moore/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
News about Congo, including commentary and
archival articles published in The New York Times.
Congo Chronology
-
Jul. 24, 2013
United States calls on Rwanda to end support for M23 rebels in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, saying there is evidence that Rwandan military officials were involved; clashes between rebels and Congolese government forces have heightened concern about reviving violence in the region.MORE » -
Jul. 16, 2013
Democratic Republic of Congo’s army shells rebel positions in second day of fierce fighting, and Rwanda and Congo trade accusations of aggression.MORE » -
Jul. 15, 2013
Uganda Red Cross says more than 60,000 residents of Democratic Republic of Congo have fled to Uganda after rebel attack on town near the border; continuing influx of refugees is stretching capacity of humanitarian workers in Uganda.MORE » -
Jun. 6, 2013
Researchers report that a type of group therapy designed for trauma victims is proving extraordinarily helpful for survivors of sexual violence in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.MORE » -
May. 24, 2013
United Nations Sec Gen Ban Ki-moon, in visit to region, says that security must go hand in hand with development in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma.MORE »
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