Kinshasa, May 21st, 2025 (CPA) – The convening of a strategic forum to define a collective response to regional stability was envisaged in Libreville (Gabon) by the heads of the security ministries of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Cameroon, according to a press release.
‘In Libreville, the Gabonese capital, on Saturday, May 17th, a ministerial meeting of vital importance was held, chaired by the Congolese Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Homeland and Security. (…) Faced with resurgence in the activities of armed groups in the border areas between the Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon and the DRC, the regional authorities are preparing to convene a far-reaching strategic forum. Coordinated by the Congolese Deputy Prime Minister of the Interior, this initiative aims to define a collective, coherent and sustainable response, based on a shared vision of cross-border security and regional stability’, reads a press release from the Congolese Ministry of the Interior. According to the source, this high-level meeting has established itself as a strategic forum for dialogue, cooperation and anticipation on security issues that are crucial to lasting peace and the integrated development of the sub-region. Particular attention was paid to the critical situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the humanitarian and geopolitical implications of which continue to give cause for serious concern. The communiqué also stated that this large-scale strategic forum would provide an ideal forum for reflection on how to curb the expansion of transhumant Mbororo herders in the province of Haut-Uélé in the north of the DRC. The Libreville ministerial meeting was organized as a prelude to the XXVIᵉ ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). It was held within the framework of the Central African Peace and Security Council (Copax). The agenda was structured around three main themes: the presentation of the report on the proceedings, the examination of the recommendations made by the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Directors of the Police and Gendarmerie and senior officials from the ministries responsible for security in the Copax member states, and the adoption of the final report on the proceedings.