Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti says the entire Great Lakes region is concerned about the intense fighting and worsening security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province.
Ms Mutti, acting as chairperson of the Forum of Parliaments on the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), is currently in Kinshasa where she met with that country’s Senate president, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, yesterday.
Speaking after paying a courtesy call on the Congolese Senate president, Ms Mutti said she was in Kinshasa on a mission to be briefed on behalf of the ICGLR’s parliamentary body about the ongoing situation in eastern DRC.
“In my capacity as acting president of the Great Lakes Region Parliamentary Forum, I have come to carry out a working visit for the organization’s general secretariat. We have undertaken a parliamentary briefing mission on the security situation in Eastern DRC,” Ms Mutti said.
She further disclosed that the ICGLR Parliamentary Forum is deeply concerned about the worrying situation with insecurities currently prevailing in North Kivu Province and places great importance on the process of restoring peace in the region.
“The question of how we can resolve our differences peacefully is of capital importance at the Parliamentary Forum of the Great Lakes Region because what we promote is the peaceful resolution of differences between Member States of the ICGLR. So, peace is important to ensure harmony among countries here in the Great Lakes Region,” she concluded.
Intense fighting between the military and M23 fighters has been reported in North Kivu Province over the past few days, leaving thousands of people displaced.