Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said on Sunday that M23 rebels have yet to withdraw from the strategic border city of Uvira in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), despite their earlier claims.

The Congo River Alliance, a rebel coalition in eastern DR Congo that includes the M23, announced late last week that it began withdrawing its forces from Uvira and will complete it the next day in response to a request from the US, a mediator in peace talks.

Tshisekedi, however, stated via videoconference at an ad hoc summit of regional leaders convened by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni to discuss the security situation in eastern DR Congo that the so-called withdrawal from Uvira does not correspond to either the facts or the observations made on the ground.

Ugandan President Museveni, meanwhile, said on US social media company X: "I am encouraged by the discussions and the strong commitment of participating countries to collaborate for lasting peace and stability in the Great Lakes region."

'Armed elements remain present'

“Our information establishes that armed elements remain present in the city and its immediate surroundings, that strategic positions remain occupied, and that the population continues to be exposed to abuses,” Tshisekedi told the summit.

“An announced withdrawal, but neither effective nor verified nor followed by the restoration of the authority of the regular forces, cannot be considered a real withdrawal. The credibility of any peace process rests on verifiable acts and not on circumstantial declarations,” he added.

Speaking to reporters after the summit, Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation, John Mulimba, said Kenyan President William Ruto and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the respective chairs of the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, were tasked with leading the implementation of existing peace initiatives.

“We concluded that the regional mechanisms must take centre stage,” he added.

Need for fact-finding

He said there was a need to verify statements by the M23 rebel group and the Congolese government over the withdrawal from the strategic city of Uvira, seized by the rebels on December 10 after a week of fighting. The M23 described its withdrawal from South Kivu’s temporary capital as a “trust-building measure.”

Mulimba said a “regional force should now come in as a neutral force to go and do the verification.”

The recent clashes between the rebels and government forces led to a major humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 200,000 people, who were forced to flee their homes.

The fighting intensified against a backdrop of a peace agreement signed on December 4 by Congolese President Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame aimed at putting an end to the fighting in eastern DR Congo.

The M23 rebel group controls significant territory in eastern DR Congo, including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, which it seized early this year. The UN and Kinshasa accuse the neighbouring Rwanda of supporting M23, allegations Kigali denies.