The meeting, which took place this Wednesday in Luanda, mediated by the President, João Lourenço, as mediator of the African Union (AU), also decided to "continue the full deployment of regional force", according to a final communiqué of the meeting.
The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, was absent from this meeting and was represented by his Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Biruta.
The President of DRCongo, Félix Tshisekedi, as well as the President of Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye, and the former head of state of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, invited by João Lourenço, were also present at the summit that ended on Wednesday night, in the Angolan capital.
The security situation in the eastern region of DRCongo was the topic of discussion at the meeting, when the heads of state "expressed their concern regarding the worsening insecurity and the persistent military actions of the M23".
According to the final communiqué, the statesmen were also concerned about the acquisition by the March 23 Movement (M23) of increasingly sophisticated weapons and other means to carry out attacks against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the persistence of negative forces and terrorists in eastern DRCongo.
The Luanda summit decided on the cessation of hostilities in general, and in particular the M23 attacks against the FARDC and MONUSCO (United Nations peace mission) as of Friday, November 25, 2022, at 6:00 pm local time.
It also decided to fully comply with the requirements of the communiqués of the conclaves of the heads of state of the East African Community (CEA) from 21 April to 20 June 2022 (Nairobi process), of the Luanda Roadmap of 6 of July 2022 (Luanda process) and the conclusions of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Chiefs and General Staff of the Armed Forces of the CEA (Bujumbura, 8 November 2022).
The seven ECA countries - Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania - decided in June to send a regional force to stabilize the eastern part of DR Congo, which has been ravaged by violence for nearly 30 years.
At the meeting in Luanda, it was also decided to continue the full deployment of the regional force and its intervention against the M23, in case it refuses to cease hostilities and withdraw from the occupied territories.
This meeting also decided on the withdrawal of the M23 from the occupied areas and its return to its initial positions, in accordance with the conclusions of the Extraordinary Meeting of Chiefs and General Staff of the Armed Forces of the CEA.
"Initially, Kenya will position its contingents in Goma and then in Bunagana, Rutshuru and Kiwanja during the disengagement and withdrawal of the M23 to their initial positions of Sabinyo on the DRCongo side to no longer cross the line of the villages of Bigega, Bugusa , Nyanbikona, Mbuzi, Rutsiro and Nkokwe", reads the statement.
If the M23 refuses to "liberate all the territories" it currently occupies, the statement notes, the CEA heads of state "will guide the Regional Force to use force to induce them to surrender."
The creation of conditions for the occupation of the areas currently controlled by the M23 by the Regional Force, with the support of the Ad-Hoc Verification Mechanism and the cessation of all political-military support from the M23 and to all other local and foreign armed groups that operating in eastern DRCongo are still part of the decisions.
The summit also decided on the disarmament and cantonment of the M23 in Congolese territory under the control of the FARDC, the Regional Force and the Ad-Hoc Verification Mechanism, with the collaboration of MONUSCO, as well as the return of internally displaced persons to their areas of origin, after the cessation of hostilities.
The note also points to the resumption of bilateral dialogue between DRCongo and Rwanda with a view to normalizing diplomatic relations and relaunching cooperation, within two months after the end of hostilities.
The Heads of State requested that the FARDC, the Regional Force and the Chiefs of General Staff of the Regional Armed Forces, in collaboration with MONUSCO, study all issues related to the disarmament and cantonment of elements of the M23 and present them with proposals in the your next summit.
They also recommended accelerating the implementation of the Disarmament, Demobilization, Community Reintegration and Stabilization Program underway in DRCongo, expressed their deep concern about the conditions in which hundreds of thousands of displaced people live in war-affected areas and launched an appeal to the community international community to provide humanitarian assistance to populations.
The heads of state participating in the Luanda summit also agreed to meet again soon in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, to assess the implementation of the conclusions of the resolutions and recommendations of the meeting in the Angolan capital.
