Former president Uhuru Kenyatta was confronted by hundreds of internally displaced persons while on his way to Goma, in DR Congo on Tuesday.
In a widely circulated video, Uhuru who is surrounded by a dozen of armed military officers is seen paying attention to the group as they narrate about their sufferings.
The former head of state who is the Africa Union peace envoy was making an official visit to the region as part of his outreach sessions with stakeholders in the country.
Goma is the capital of North Kivu in province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The EAC facilitator noted the misery, the cycle of conflict by armed groups, had inflicted on innocent men, women, children, and the old,” a statement from Kenya’s consulate in DRC read.
The former president, it adds, also called on the international community, humanitarian organisations such as Unicef, WFP, IOM, UN OCHA, to urgently and impactfully respond to assuage the terrible distress and human suffering.
During a roundtable meeting with representatives of the FARDC, MONUSCO, and the East African Community Regional Force, Uhuru is said to have noted with concern the adverse effect of the violence in the country.
The fights by the M23 rebels and other armed groups, he said, have occasioned human rights violations and led to the displacements of millions in eastern DRC.
Uhuru further emphasised that the situation requires urgent intervention by the international community, AUPSC and UNSC.
In separate conversations, the former president is said to have expressed concern that his work has been severely hampered by the unfolding dreadful humanitarian crisis in and around Goma.
The happening, it states, was virtually making it impossible for him to fully realise the potential of his role when the fighting and the wholesale displacement of towns and villages is ongoing.
“It is important to note that the humanitarian crisis is unfolding as a result of non-adherence to recommendations agreed upon in Nairobi during the Heads of State Conclaves,” Uhuru said.
