The last minute failure to sign the much awaited peace deal
between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels on Monday reflects a
difficulty in the ongoing efforts to bring peace in the eastern part of
DR Congo.
The Congolese delegation led by the Foreign
Affairs minister, Raymond Tshibanda, showed in up Kampala six hours late
for the meeting and declined to sit in the same room with the M23
delegation. And when host President Yoweri Museveni walked out of the
meeting, it was evident that one year of negotiations could go to waste.
The failure to sign the deal that is seen by many as a step towards a return to peace in DR Congo disappointed many.
The African Union, UN and EU voiced regret and
urged the parties to resolve their differences and “remain committed to a
peaceful settlement of the conflict."
What went wrong?
Sources say the turnaround by the Kinshasa
delegation is as a result of the Congolese government seeing M23 as a
“defeated force” and therefore, they see no need to sign an agreement
with the “losers”.
But the M23 rebels who were convinced by President
Museveni to withdraw from Goma in November 2012 so as to resume
negotiations are seeing this as betrayal.
Kinshasa, which has for long accused Rwanda and
Uganda of supporting M23, echoed the same accusations, saying Uganda was
behaving as if it was part of the conflict, an accusation the Uganda
government dismissed.
President Kabila and the international community
are already pushing for the handover of the M23 military leader, Sultani
Makenga, to Kinshasa for trial, which puts Museveni in a tricky
situation.
If the agreement is not signed, Museveni will have
to choose between handing over Gen Makenga to Kinshasa or keep him in
Uganda, which the international community is totally against.
However Kampala has said it will not hand over the
rebels. "As of now, we have received no (arrest) request and even if
we had, we would not have proceeded until the agreement is signed,"
government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo told AFP.
Declaration Vs Agreement
Another position pushed by Kinshasa which
apparently jeopardised the process is that the Congolese government want
to sign “a declaration” to mark the end of the war, not a
“comprehensive peace agreement” which the rebels prefer.
Signing an agreement would mean the rebels would
be integrated into the Congolese army and also get amnesty, which
Kinshasa is strongly against.
Leader of the M23 delegation, Rene Abandi, told Uganda's Daily Monitor
on Tuesday that they were shocked to see Kinshasa turn around at the
last minute when they had agreed on all points including the amnesty.
“We have agreed on everything in the documents
including amnesty. What I don’t understand is why they changed their
mind at the last minute,” he said.
The Congolese government said Monday night that it needed time to study the agreement.
"We have been engaged in this process for several
months now... We have encountered some difficulties over issues
important to us, and we think that these difficulties can be removed
before finalising the process," Tshibanda told AFP news agency.
Influence of international community
While Kampala and Kigali who have been accused by
the UN of supporting the M23 want the peace deal signed, effectively
granting amnesty to the rebels, the United States and the UN support
Kinshasa’s stand that the M23 commanders who allegedly committed
atrocities should stand trial.
"In the past, agreements like these have been made
with the DR Congo rebel groups and amnesty has been given to those who
committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. That's unacceptable,”
US envoy for the Great Lakes Region and DR Congo, Mr Russell Feingold,
said.
“[There should be] no amnesty for those who have committed those crimes," he added.
Museveni criticises DR Congo
At the Pretoria summit on DR Congo organised by
the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and SADC,
President Museveni criticised the Kinshasa government for pushing a
“Eurocentric” policy and disregarding regional and continental
mechanisms to end the war.
This was after Kinshasa and the UN mission in
Congo (Monusco) ignored calls by the ICGRL chaired by President Museveni
and the AU to stop attacking M23 positions in order to give
negotiations a chance.
This was seen as a lack of trust on the part of
President Kabila toward regional and continental mechanisms that started
the process to end the war in the eastern part of the country.
Clash of egos
According to military sources, the beginning of
the disagreements between Rwanda and Uganda with the UN was who should
have command and control of the intervention brigade, which has been
bombing M23.
President Museveni, who was the brains behind this
intervention force, wanted the command and control of the brigade that
is composed of Tanzanians, South Africans and Malawians be under the AU,
but the UN refused. In the end, the UN has been giving orders to the
brigade to bomb M23 positions despite President Museveni calling for a
ceasefire and pushing for negotiations.
It’s not clear when the Kampala talks will resume
but Uganda's Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga who has been chairing them
said he was making efforts to meet delegates from both sides to agree
on a new date for the signing ceremony.
However, pacifying DR Congo will not be an easy
task as several militia groups remain active including Rwanda’s arch
foe, the Hutu-dominated FDRL.
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
