By GAAKI KIGAMBO Special Correspondent
In Summary
• There is a mixture of hope and pessimism that the talks will move faster than they did before, and deliver long term peace and stability to eastern DRC and by extension, the entire Great Lakes region
Talks between the M23 rebels and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo resume this week.
There is a mixture of hope and pessimism that the talks will move faster than they did before, and deliver long term peace and stability to eastern DRC and by extension, the entire Great Lakes region.
The talks stalled in early February when long running tensions in M23’s top leadership finally exploded in the rebel group.
READ: DRC peace talks halt as M23 split deepens
Its chairperson at the time, Bishop Jean-Marie Runiga, was dismissed and fled to Rwanda following deadly armed clashes that claimed lives of hundreds of the rebels’ rank and file.
A statement from the talk’s chief facilitator, Crispus Kiyonga, announcing the resumption of talks does not state whether the talks will pick up from where they left off or whether there will be a review of the agenda.
From early to middle March, at the height of clashes between rival M23 factions, reports circulated that Kinshasa had drafted a 12-article agreement for signing with the rebels.
Analysts who had a chance to look at the document concluded that it looked genuine as it aligned itself with key M23 grievances.
But Amani Babu, one of the several spokespersons of the rebel movement, dismissed talk they had any other parallel agreement to the one they were pursuing in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, where the talks are taking place.
“Has any member of M23 told you that there is any other agreement?” Mr Babu rhetorically asked The EastAfrican.
Breakdown
The talks broke down shortly after clearing the first cluster — a review of the March 23, 2009 agreement that had integrated the current rebels into government, which they accused Kinshasa of going back on to justify their rebellion.
READ: M23 split likely to impact the DRC peace talks
If the old agenda is followed, the talks will now move on to tackle the next cluster of security reforms that officials facilitating the talks as well as those observing them have repeatedly noted.
The talks are likely to be more difficult than the previous ones unless there have been changes in the positions on both sides.
Before the talks broke down, the rebels demanded a complete overhaul of the military and the country’s security structure.
Kinshasa would not agree to those demands. Instead, it proposed that M23 arrest its senior military command, retire all soldier above the rank of major, and re-integrates those below the rank of major on condition that they are physically fit and Congolese.
Jason Stearns, who has researched the conflict in eastern Congo, told The EastAfrican, in an earlier interview, that both sides had taken unreasonable stances that were tailor-made to sabotage the talks.