The Round Table on the state of siege in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri ended this Wednesday, August 16, 2023. For three days, the participants, from different institutions and provinces of the country, as well as the governors soldiers from the provinces under a state of siege, the provincial deputies and the living forces of the Republic, examined the options relating to the lifting, the requalification or the maintenance of the state of siege.
Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, the work of the Round Table took place in three commissions, each producing recommendations recorded in a report intended for the President of the Republic, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.
The Prime Minister made a point of paying tribute to the President of the Republic for having convened and organized this Round Table and announced his intention to transmit the final report to the President so that he can take the appropriate directives.
Since his accession to the supreme office, President Tshisekedi has been working to find a lasting solution to the aggression of which the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the victim, in particular in its eastern part. The insecurity caused by armed groups is having a negative impact on many aspects of daily life in the country, and the President is doing everything to restore peace and restore hope in this region.
In this spirit, the President declared a state of siege in May 2021, and since then the government has been working tirelessly to implement the corresponding measures. The Prime Minister, accompanied by the Parliament and other partners, carried out several missions in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri in order to collect the concerns of the various stakeholders and to assess the progress made as well as the challenges remaining.
The Round Table was convened with the aim of enlightening the President of the Republic on the issue of lifting, maintaining or requalifying the state of siege. The participants therefore had the opportunity to share their analyzes and recommendations, in the hope of finding the best solution to restore peace and security in the region.
President Tshisekedi remains determined to put in place effective measures for the restoration of peace and to meet the expectations of the population. This work of the Round Table represents a crucial step in this process and will allow informed decisions to be made for the future of the region