On Thursday, in North Kivu, civil society organisations issued an ultimatum to the EACRF “to attack the rebels.” The activists are threatening to organise protest marches against the presence of the regional force, as was the case with the UN peacekeeping mission in July 2022.

The communiqué of the Mombasa meeting also says that “the leaders of M23 urged President Kenyatta to assist in assuring that there is safety in DRC and that the citizen rights are upheld and recognised, and that all the local and foreign armed group fighting in the eastern DRC also lay down their arms, cease any fighting or attacks on the M23 and seek resolution of the conflict through peaceful means.”

M23 rebels further agreed to continue to respect and cooperate with the East African regional force that has now begun to take control of the areas they vacate. This process is in “adherence to the decision of the extraordinary meeting of EAC chiefs of general staff held in Bujumbura on 8^th November 2022”, says the communiqué.

At a time when the facilitator is pleased that the situation in the North-Kivu, “which was the most volatile in the conflict in the entire eastern DRC had achieved progress with increased stability and security”, the Congolese population, especially in North Kivu, is impatient for the East African regional force to open a confrontation with the M23 rebels. Many are already asking the regional force to “clarify its mandate” because, they say, the force is “supposed to attack the rebels”.