Kigali — Senate President Vincent Biruta and lower house Speaker Rose Mukantabana have joined their regional counterparts in the Burundian capital Bujumbura for a meeting aimed at reviving CEPGL.

CEPGL is an economic body that brings together Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the Executive Secretary of the organisation, Gabriel Toyi, the Bujumbura meeting is focusing on peace, security and development.

The Parliamentarians also debated the status of implementation of development programs, economic cooperation and the state of the dialogue between member states.

CEPGL was created in 1976 for economic integration and facilitating the movement of goods and people between its three member countries.

In 1994, the crisis in Burundi and the Genocide in Rwanda stalled the process of CEPGL. The body had its headquarters in Rwanda.

All agreements under this regional body were suspended in 1996, following the instabilities in DR Congo that led to the deposal of former President Mobutu Sese Seko.

In 2004, Louis Michel, the then Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, invited the heads of diplomacy of the three countries at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels to discuss the modalities of a possible revival of the bloc.