Open Letter to Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs Mumbengengwi: Act urgently on Eastern DRC Conflict, Call for Extraordinary SADC and EAC Summit.

The Committee of the People's Charter (CPC) notes with great trepidation and misgiving the long standing conflict in the Eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is particularly so with the recent escalation of the conflict and the displacement of innocent and unarmed civilians in the regional capital of Goma.

While the CPC is aware of the ongoing efforts of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (MONUSC) as well as the initiative of the neighbouring states through their 12 August 2012 Great Lakes Region International Summit, we are of the firm view that the Zimbabwean government has an obligation to call for greater urgency in seeking a ceasefire and an end to the internal displacement of innocent civilians in this conflict.

This is not only because the DRC is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) but also because Zimbabwe has long standing ties with the DRC that, in the final analysis, make it obligatory for us to support and seek peaceful solutions to that conflict.

The CPC has also observed that it is a general trend of the Zimbabwean government and components of civil society to seek regional and international solidarity primarily on the basis of our internal problems at home and rarely do we seek or act in solidarity and support for peoples of Africa and elsewhere in the world that are in conflict situations.

It is therefore of utmost importance that Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formally requests SADC to act with urgency on the matter. This would include action that should lead to the calling of a joint Extraordinary Summit on the DRC conflict involving SADC and the East African Community (EAC) in order to resolve the conflict and with African Union and United Nations support.