By 
Citizen First (CF) president, Harry Kalaba, has expressed deep concern over the escalating conflict between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under President Félix Tshisekedi and the M23 rebel group, which has now drawn in Rwandan President, Paul Kagame.
In a statement on Thursday, Kalaba, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, warned that rising casualties—including displaced civilians and peacekeeping soldiers from South Africa—underscored the urgent need for diplomatic intervention.
“On behalf of Citizens First, I make an urgent and clarion call for SADC to convene talks involving President Kagame, President Tshisekedi, and South African authorities to resolve this conflict before it engulfs the entire East and Southern African regions,” he said.
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Kalaba noted that South Africa, which recently lost peacekeepers in the conflict, risked deeper entanglement.
“It is regrettable that South Africa is being drawn into this crisis, as President Cyril Ramaphosa has already observed,” he added.
He urged SADC and African leaders to take the lead in resolving the crisis rather than relying on external interventions.
“SADC and Africa must understand that without ending internal conflicts, economic development will remain a pipe dream,” Kalaba said.
Calling for an immediate ceasefire, he stressed that regional stability was key to economic growth and job creation.
“Above all, we must use our own platforms, such as SADC, instead of looking to the West to end conflicts that we sometimes started ourselves,” he added.
Kalaba also urged Zambians to appreciate their country’s peace and take lessons from the ongoing crisis.
“We are confident that through greater diplomacy, peace can return to the region,” he said.
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