South Sudan speaker, DRC leader discuss conflict in Sudan
August 17, 2023 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s national assembly speaker Jemma Nunu Kumba and the Congolese leader Felix Tshisekdi on Thursday met to discuss the political and security situation in Sudan.
Kumba is the current President of the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). The ICGLR is an inter-governmental organization of 12 countries in the African Great Lakes region.
Its establishment was based on the recognition that political instability and conflicts in these countries have a considerable regional dimension, thus require a concerted effort to promote sustainable peace and development.
“I am in the democratic republic of Congo for a meeting with the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi in my capacity as President of the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (FP-ICGLR) and speaker of TNLA [Transitional National Legislative Assembly on the fact-finding mission on the political, humanitarian and security situation in Eastern part of DRC andSudan. There are a lot of things that we can achieve as Africans and people of the Great Lakes Region,” said Kumba.
The meeting, she said, discussed security, peace, economics and how these nations could work together and coordinate efforts to attain peace in the region.
“Of interest was the issue of the current situation in Sudan and Congo. The President of the DRC has personally touched the situation in Sudan and pledged to work together with all his colleagues in the region and beyond to help push for a peaceful settlement to the conflict,” Kumba told Sudan Tribune.
In June, the Congolese government announced that 10 of its nationals died in an attack on a university campus at International University of Africa in Khartoum.
The Congolese Foreign Affairs ministry demanded an explanation from the Sudanese government and expected the dead bodies to be repatriated for free.
Further calls were also made for Sudanese authorities to open up a humanitarian corridor for the wounded and others stranded to be evacuated.
For his part, Tshisekedi said he is closely following the conflict in Sudan while pledging to work with his colleagues in the region to ensure that the on ongoing conflict is amicably settled for peace and stability to return to Sudan.
“I am close to the Sudanese people and my administration and I have been working closely with leaders in the region to ensure the conflict in Sudan is amicably settled through peaceful dialogue so that peace and stability are restored”, partly reads a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
Humanitarian organizations said since the beginning of the hostilities on April 15, more than 4.3 million people have been forced to flee Sudan and 3.2 million are internally displaced, including 187,000 refugees seeking shelter in the country. Another 6 million people in Sudan are a step away from famine.
(ST)