Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday appealed to the international community through the United Nations to put more resources into peace efforts by countries from East and Southern Africa nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.



Ruto made the comments following discussions with Huang Xia, the special envoy of the UN Secretary General to the Great Lakes region, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

“Kenya is fully committed and wholly invested in the achievement of regional peace and security. We will support all initiatives to end conflict and bring stability and prosperity to East Africa and the Great Lakes Region,” Ruto said.

The eastern part of the DR Congo has been troubled for decades by several militia groups, in particular rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and those of the March 23 Movement (M23).

An East African regional force has already been deployed to DR Congo’s restive eastern part to end the conflict while Uganda is conducting a separate joint operation with the Congolese army against the rebels.

Kenya officially sent troops last week to join a contingent from Burundi as part of the regional force and also spearheaded the formation of a political process, adopted by the East African Community (EAC), to bring peace.