Ruto talks with UN boss Guterres over Haiti mission, DRC crisis

President William Ruto on Thursday held a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres over the ongoing efforts to advance peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

They also talked on the ongoing Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.

Kenya leads the mission with more than 800 police officers already in Haiti.

Ruto said during the Thursday night talks, the UN boss acknowledged the role Kenya plays in the mission.

“He acknowledged Kenya’s leadership role and commended our steadfast commitment to our shared goal of restoring stability in Haiti,” he said in a post on his social media.

This comes amid ongoing criminal gangs activities in Haiti, which have displaced thousands.

Thousands of Haitians marched through the streets of the country’s volatile capital on Wednesday April 2, defying tear gas and gangs as they vented their anger against the surge in gang violence.

The protesters demanded the resignation of the country’s transitional authorities and the head of the Haiti National Police.

During the massive protest, demonstrators brandished machetes and firearms.

Others waved tree branches and red and black flags, once the symbol of the Duvalier dictatorship, but which has since become associated with other forces in Haiti.

Protesters burned tires and blocked roads as they traveled down from Pétion-Ville and up from Delmas to converge on the offices of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council and prime minister.

Ruto said he also briefed him on the ongoing efforts to advance peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I highlighted the outcomes of the recent joint East African Community–Southern African Development Community summit, which built on previous initiatives and endorsed a clear roadmap with immediate, medium, and long-term actions.”

“I called on the UN to support the joint EAC-SADC regional efforts in implementing the roadmap for peace in eastern DRC,” he said.

He added they reaffirmed their shared commitment to regional peace, security, and sustainable conflict resolution, emphasizing the importance of continued collaboration between the United Nations and regional initiatives.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels aim to hold direct talks on April 9.

This is a potential boost to Qatar’s efforts to end the Central African country’s worst fighting in decades.

The meeting in Doha would be the two sides’ first direct negotiations since M23 fighters captured eastern DRC’s two largest cities in a rapid offensive that has left thousands dead and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

One Congolese official said that talks were scheduled for April 9 “unless the other side misbehaves”.

A source inside M23 confirmed the date and said it would present Kinshasa with its demands.

Both sides have agreed not to publicly discuss the substance of the talks, the sources said.

The DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame held a surprise meeting in Doha on March 18.

Rwanda denies supporting M23 and says its military has been acting in self-defence against the DRC’s army and militias hostile to Kigali.

The conflict, which has raged on Congo’s eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, is rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and regional competition for mineral riches.

M23 has long demanded direct negotiations with Kinshasa, but Tshisekedi had refused, arguing that M23 was merely a front for Rwanda.

He reversed his position last month amid mounting battlefield defeats and agreed to send a delegation to Luanda, the Angolan capital.

Those talks were cancelled at the last minute when M23 pulled out after being hit by European Union sanctions.