African leaders endorse peace process to end conflict in eastern DR Congo

LUSAKA, Zambia

African leaders have endorsed a peace process to resolve the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with Botswana’s former President Mokgweetsi Masisi appointed to a panel of facilitators mandated to steer the inclusive dialogue.

The developments were announced Thursday in a communique following a virtual extraordinary joint summit the previous day of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The summit, which was co-chaired by Kenyan President and EAC chairperson William Ruto and Zimbabwean President and SADC chairperson Emmerson Mnangagwa, called for the immediate mobilization of resources, including for humanitarian support, to be centralized and coordinated by the African Union Commission (AUC).

"The AUC will work with all other ongoing initiatives and stakeholders and inform them on the alignment of the African-led process. The joint extraordinary summit endorsed the terms of reference for the African Union (AU) mediator and the EAC-SADC panel of facilitators' consolidated African-led process and called for the AUC to endorse and lead its implementation," the communique said in part.

It said the summit commended efforts by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame for embracing the route of dialogue to address the conflict between the Congolese army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels which intensified in early 2025.

Joining Masisi on the panel of facilitators are former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, former Central African Republic (CAR) President Catherine Samba-Panza and former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde.