Kenya has joined other East African Community and Southern African Development Community member States in calling for a ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kenya has urged stakeholders to be brought to the negotiating table as part of facilitating a return to normalcy in DRC.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said: “The only way out is to shun combat and give dialogue a chance.”
"Peace is not like instant coffee. You cannot brew it. We have a golden moment as EAC and SADC to help the people of DRC,” he said.
Mudavadi made the remarks on Friday during the ministerial meeting of EAC and SADC member states in Dar es Salaam over the conflict situation in eastern DRC.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary maintained that embracing urgent peace initiatives will not only be essential for eastern DRC but also the two regions and Africa as a continent.
"As we seek a joint resolution following numerous
earlier initiatives, we need to understand that insecurity and conflicts in one
region can escalate and destabilise the whole world," Mudavadi emphasised.
Mudavadi regretted that the long-drawn conflict in the eastern region of DRC has, and continues to claim lives and displace countless civilians; with children, women and persons with disabilities bearing the brunt.
He said the conflict is rapidly mutating into other forms of threats to human security and dignity such as sexual exploitation, abuse and gender-based violence and illicit exploitation and trafficking of natural resources.
Mudavadi, who heads the EAC Foreign Ministers caucus, co-chaired the Friday meeting with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Prof Amon Murwira, who is the Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister and doubles as the chairperson of the SADC council of ministers.
The meeting was held ahead of Saturday's Heads of State and Governments Summit, which will be attended by President William Ruto among other leaders.
“This situation demands our immediate, collective, and sustained attention. In this way, we aim to respond on time to the immediate concerns of peace, humanitarianism, human security, and sustainable development,” Mudavadi added.
UN humanitarians warn that the situation continues to worsen for civilians likely trapped by days of intense fighting in and around Goma, which has a population of over one million.
Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the United Nations mission in the DRC, on Wednesday said nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army.