The African Union Commission on Wednesday convened the AU–EAC–SADC Panel of Facilitators for the first time since the Rwanda–DRC agreement was signed in Washington, an early attempt to reclaim African ownership of a peace process that has lately been outsourced.
Details of the Addis Ababa meeting were thin, beyond diplomatic pleasantries. In a brief statement, the Commission said its chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, received the panel overseeing efforts to stabilise the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The facilitators present resembled a roll call of Africa’s elder statesmen and women: former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Nigeria’s ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ethiopia’s former head of state Sahle-Work Zewde, ex-Central African Republic President Catherine Samba-Panza, and Botswana’s former leader Mokgweetsi Masisi.
Youssouf praised the panel’s “leadership, wisdom and sustained engagement” and reaffirmed the AU’s support for its mandate. Speaking on behalf of the panel, Obasanjo underlined a renewed commitment to “African-owned solutions”.
The Washington accord, brokered far from the continent, was a reminder of how elusive that ambition remains.
The facilitators agreed on the need for “coherence and alignment” among the various tracks now in play, including initiatives based in Washington and Doha, all ostensibly feeding into an AU-led process.
Whether this choreography produces results is, however, uncertain.
Rwanda and the DRC continue to trade accusations over rebel support and territorial interference, while violence in eastern Congo has displaced millions and shows little sign of abating.