Facilitators for the Democratic Republic of the Congo Peace Process arrive at State House Nairobi

COMMUNIQUE OF THE MEETING OF THE CO-CHAIRS OF THE JOINT EAC-SADC SUMMIT WITH THE PANEL OF FACILITATORS FOR THE
DRC PEACE PROCESS
1ST AUGUST 2025


1. The meeting of the Co-Chairs of the Joint EAC-SADC Summit with the Panel of Facilitators was held in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya, on 1st August 2025 in a warm and cordial atmosphere to deliberate with the Panel of Facilitators on the security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
2. The meeting was Co-Chaired by His Excellency, Dr. William Samoei Ruto, CGH, President of the Republic of Kenya and Chairperson of the EAC and His Excellency Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Chairperson of SADC.
3. The meeting was attended by the following members of the Panel of Facilitators:
(i) H.E Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
(ii) H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, Former President of the Republic of Kenya,
(iii) H.E Catherine Samba-Panza, Former Interim President of the Central African Republic,
(iv) H.E Sahle-Work Zewde, Former President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and
(v) H.E Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, Former President of the Republic of Botswana.
4. The meeting was also attended by:
(i) H.E Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
(ii) H.E Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Republic of Kenya
(iii) H.E Prof. Amon Murwira, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Republic of Zimbabwe
(iv) H.E. Veronica M. Nduva, CBS, Secretary General of the East African Community, and
(v) H.E. Mr. Elias Mpedi Magosi, Executive Secretary, Southern African Development Community.
5. The meeting recalled the decisions of the 1st Joint EAC-SADC Summit held on 8th February 2025 in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania and the 2 nd Joint Summit held virtually on 24 th March 2025, on the situation in eastern DRC, along with the resolutions of the 1261st Summit Level Meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union held on 14th February, 2025 and the UN Security Council Resolution 2773 (2025), all of which emphasised the need for concerted efforts to address the deteriorating security situation in eastern DRC.
6. The meeting congratulated the Panel of Facilitators on their appointment and commended them for accepting to guide the process towards addressing the various facets of the security challenges in the eastern DRC.
7. The meeting adopted the following enabling documents outlining the mandate of the Facilitators:
(i) Framework for the Merger of the Nairobi and Luanda Processes;
(ii) Terms of Reference for the Five-Member Panel of Facilitators appointed by the Joint EAC-SADC Summit;
(iii) Process Design for an Inclusive Mediation Process in eastern DRC;
(iv) Proposed Structure of the Independent Secretariat to Support the Facilitation Process; and
(v) The Resource Mobilization Framework for Supporting the Joint Initiative.
8. The meeting adopted the following Resolutions:
(i) Immediate merger of the EAC-SADC and AU structures to comprise of the AU Mediator, EAC-SADC Panel of Facilitators, to report to the Joint EAC-SADC Summit and the African Union.
(ii) Immediate merger of the technical secretariats of the AUC, EAC and SADC into a Joint Secretariat, led by the AUC in Addis Ababa, to operationalize the joint structure.
(iii) Consolidate the Terms of Reference (ToRs) and related documents for the AU Mediator and EAC-SADC Panel of facilitators to be endorsed by the Joint EAC-SADC Summit.
(iv) Immediate resource mobilization, including for humanitarian support, to be centralized and coordinated by the AUC.
(v) Call on the AUC to convey to all other ongoing initiatives and stakeholders to align to the African led process.
(vi) Convene a virtual Extra-Ordinary Joint EAC-SADC Summit within 7 days to communicate the outcomes of this Meeting.
(vii) The AUC to communicate the outcomes to all African Union Member States.
9.The meeting expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic of Kenya H.E Dr William Samoei Ruto, CGH for successfully hosting the meeting in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya and commended the EAC, SADC and AUC Secretariats for the preparatory work undertaken leading to this meeting.
DONE in Nairobi on this 1st day of August 2025, in English, French and Portuguese languages, all texts being equally authentic.