- The EAC said the meeting will seek to find a way forward over the volatile security situation in the mineral-rich country.
Image: COURTESY
President William Ruto has arrived in Burundi for the 20th extraordinary summit of EAC heads of state.
Ruto called for the international community to audit industrial supply chains to honour Congolese products saying it has been long overdue.
"Make sure that global production and consumption honour Congolese resource sovereignty and do not profit out of conflict and human suffering," Ruto said.
"It is time for the world to recognize the obvious: the resources of the DRC belong to the people of the DRC, and that global demand for these resources must enhance their well-being and not inflict misery on them," he said.
Ruto added that history has amply documented the direct relationship between slavery and colonialism in Africa and the industrial revolution in the West.
Therefore, he called for concerted multilateral collective action on the concerns raised by heads of state.
In a statement on Friday, the EAC said the meeting will seek to find a way forward over the volatile security situation in the mineral-rich country.
"EAC Heads of State are convening in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, for the 20th Extra-Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State. Agenda: Evaluation of the Security Situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo & Way Forward," the statement read.
Fresh fighting has flared up in eastern DRC where M23 rebels last Friday seized the strategic town of Kitshanga.
The DRC’s army withdrew from the region in what it said was a tactical move to protect civilians amid the renewed onslaught from the rebel fighters.
On Tuesday, The Facilitator of the EAC-Led Nairobi Peace Process, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, convened an urgent meeting with the EAC Technical Advisory Team following the escalation of fighting and targeted killings in the Itivu and North Kivu regions.
Uhuru called for an urgent return to the negotiating table for the purposes of promoting trust and confidence among the parties to the conflict and alleviating further suffering to the people in eastern DRC.
"Following the advice of his technical advisors, the facilitator once again called for a calm and immediate cessation of hostilities. The facilitator expressed his deep concern about the serious violation of the Nairobi principles and the Luanda agreement," a statement from Uhuru's office said.