Online Reporter
Africa Moyo in NAIROBI, Kenya
SADC Chairperson President Mnangagwa has arrived in Kenya, where he will engage his Kenyan counterpart Dr William Ruto, the East African Community (EAC) Chairperson and formally appoint a panel of five facilitators expected to find a durable solution to the conflict in eastern DRC.
He was received at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, Winpeg Moyo, among others.
The President is accompanied by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira and other senior Government officials.
The meeting of the SADC and EAC co-chairs is set to take place at the State House tomorrow, where they will formally adopt documents relating to the facilitators’ terms of reference and discuss funding modalities for the team.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Mr Korir Sing’Oei this week said the Nairobi meeting will also serve as a formal briefing for the panel of facilitators appointed to lead peace talks in the region.
“The time has come to harmonise our peace tracks and give this region a single voice,” he said during a Tuesday briefing with Mr Mudavadi.
In addition to Presidents Mnangagwa and Dr Ruto, the meeting will involve facilitators such as former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Central African Republic President Catherine Samba-Panza, former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, and former Botswana President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi. Other senior officials expected to attend include the African Union Commission Chair Mr Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, SADC Executive Secretary Mr Elias Magosi, and EAC Secretary General Ms Veronica Nduva.
