The Heads of State attending the 20th Extra-Ordinary summit of the East African Community in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura have directed for an immediate ceasefire by all fighting forces in Dr Congo. in a communiques issued after the closed session in which the heads of state directed the withdrawal including all foreign armed groups and directed the chiefs of defense forces to meet within one week and set new timelines for the withdrawal and recommend appropriate deployment matrix.
They further directed that this process be accompanied by dialogue and violations be reported to the Chairperson of the summit for immediate consultation with members of the summit.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was in Burundi and on arrival at the Melchior Ndadaye International Airport was driven to Statehouse Bujumbura were he was received by his host President Gen Évariste Ndayishimiye.
In his remarks before the closed-door meeting, the host and current Chairman of the EAC summit, President Evariste Ndayishimiye said ,” the main purpose of the meeting is to evaluate the current situation in Eastern DRC with a view of coming up with decisions that will ameliorate the security situation and facilitate the restoration of peace and security in Eastern DRC.”
The summit directed all troop contributing countries to immediately deploy and urged DR Congo to immediately facilitate the deployment of troops.
This after the Head of State noted that the security situation in eastern DRC is a regional matter that can only be sustainably resolved through a political process and emphasised the need for enhanced dialogue among all the parties .
