By GAAKI KIGAMBO Special Correspondent
Posted Saturday, January 19 2013 at 19:19
IN SUMMARY
The four substantive issues, or clusters as they have been called, include the review of the March 23, 2009 Peace Agreement; security; social, economic and political matters; and, the mechanism for implementation of the resolutions adopted in Kampala.
After 27 days of negotiation, the DR Congo peace talks in Kampala entered a crucial phase as the parties begun to dissect the four substantive issues that both Kinshasa and the M23 rebels eventually agreed upon as Ugandan mediators said they would continue “to build confidence to reach the required consensus.”
“Both delegations have legitimate concerns; it will take compromise for consensus to be arrived at,” Col Paddy Ankunda, the media advisor to the talks’ chief facilitator, Ugandan Defence Minister Dr Crispus Kiyonga, told The EastAfrican.
The four substantive issues, or clusters as they have been called, include the review of the March 23, 2009 Peace Agreement; security; social, economic and political matters; and, the mechanism for implementation of the resolutions adopted in Kampala.
The clusters are derived from a review of the 2009 agreement itself; security reviews by the UN Stabilisation Mission in DR Congo; and a list of 21 grievances the rebels presented to Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in July 2012.
President Museveni chairs the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, under whose auspices Kampala is overseeing the talks at the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort.
In relation to the 2009 agreement that the M23 accused Kinshasa of dishonouring, the review that Dr Kiyonga authored claims that “the DRC government has made significant efforts to implement the agreement and work started on most of the provisions in the agreement.”
It adds, “Some of the areas are quite sensitive and would require priority attention, particularly those relating to reform of the army, payment of soldiers and attention to their general welfare.”
The fourth cluster on implementation will prove decisive. Previous talks in South Africa, Nairobi and Goma have only been fractionally implemented.
Deeply entrenched interests both on the government’s side and whomever it enters agreements with, have compromised their commitment to fully follow through with them, note analysts.
“What the talks need to focus on is implementation, implementation, and implementation,” a peace and conflict expert, who has been engaged with the process, told The EastAfrican.
“Certain structures should be created in Kinshasa and given a mandate to ensure the agreements are followed through because it isn’t just about President Kabila. Mechanisms are needed to make sure that whatever is agreed this time round doesn’t gather dust like previous agreements,” he added.
There had been fears that the UN Security Council travel ban and asset freeze against the entire M23 rebel entity, and the rebels’ insistence that Kinshasa sign a permanent ceasefire, would jeopardise the talks that resumed on January 4 after a 13-day hiatus.
READ: Peace eludes east DRC as rebels, govt talks put off to Jan 4
Uganda, however, requested the UN and the US, which had moved the motion against the rebels, to review their decision because it affected the progress of the talks.
Kampala also sent a tough message to the M23 rebels, making it clear it would not entertain cheap politicking.