Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has agreed to grant concessions to rebel group M23 in what observers see as a move to pacify the eastern part of the country and win over his opponents.

Kinshasa has stepped up implementation of the 2013 Nairobi Declaration which among other things allows the former M23 to register a political party and benefit from amnesty.

Negotiations between the rebels and the government resumed on May 27, two years after the rebels accused the government of refusing to honour the Nairobi Declaration that ended fighting between government forces and the rebels.

The National Monitoring Mechanism, which was put in place to implement the resolutions, convened this past week, bringing together representatives of the government and of the rebels.

François Mumba, the co-ordinator of the taskforce, reiterated “the commitment of the government of the DRC to create the conditions necessary to complete this process.”

Désiré Rwigema, who led the M23 delegation, said that the rebels were ready to ensure that the repatriation and reintegration process is completed.

Earlier, media reports had indicated that the rebels had registered a political party named People United to Deliver-ASP, but the rebels, the majority of whom are in camps in Uganda, denied the reports.

Bertrand Bisimwa, the leader of M23 said that the rebels are yet to register a party. “The leadership of the Movement has to date not undertaken any administrative procedure to transform our organisation into a political party,” Mr Bisimwa said, adding if conditions allow, the process will begin.