DR CONGO - "The agreement is within reach", announces Mgr. Utembi who mediates between the majority and opposition

"We have reached the end of the tunnel. What remains to be done is to review the text. The agreement is there, within reach", said His Exc. Mgr. Marcel Utembi Tapa, Archbishop of Kisangani and President of the Congolese National Episcopal Conference (CENCO), announcing a possible agreement between the majority and the opposition to allow the Democratic Republic of Congo to come out from the political and institutional crisis which was created with the end of President Joseph Kabila’s mandate and the failure to hold elections to choose his successor.

Mgr. Utembi, who is in charge of the mediation between the parties, claimed in a statement to reporters, sent to Fides, that the agreement chapters cover: basic commitments for the respect of the Constitution; electoral process; management of the pre-election period and that of the election; checking procedure; dispute management process.

"We are proud that the differences will almost totally be ironed out. The agreement calls for a consensual management with all parties involved", said Mgr. Utembi. The agreement will be made public on December 30.

Violence, however, continues to claim victims in different areas of the DRC, particularly in the territory of Beni, in the eastern province of North Kivu, where at least 27 people were killed during the Christmas weekend in and around Eringeti in a series of attacks attributed to rebels of Ugandan origin of the ADF.