A joint delegation from the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) – two of the largest church organizations in the country – arrived in Goma on Wednesday and met with Corneille Nangaa, who has emerged as the M23 rebels’ political leader since they seized Goma in late January during a major escalation in their yearslong fighting with Congolese forces.
Congo’s largest church organizations met Wednesday with Rwanda-backed rebels in the country’s east in the latest push for peace and dialogue after weekslong fighting that saw the rebels seize the region’s largest city of Goma.
While Congo’s government says it will agree to talks with the M23 only if done in the framework of past peace efforts, its government dismissed the rebels’ announcement of a ceasefire as false and has called for sanctions against the rebels and Rwanda.
Despite declaring a unilateral ceasefire, the rebels were still fighting with government forces as of Wednesday as they tried to take more towns close to South Kivu’s provincial capital of Bukavu, the U.N. and local authorities said.
Meanwhile, President Félix Tshisekedi’s party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which is influential in Congo’s politics, has expressed opposition to the church leaders’ peace efforts, arguing that the churches should have waited for an official stance from the president.
