DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi poses for a photo with his Rwanda counterpart Paul Kagame in Rubavu, Rwanda on June 25, 2021. PHOTO | PSU
Democratic Republic of Congo president Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame will attend an extraordinary summit of the continent’s eastern and southern regional blocs to be hosted by Tanzania to address east DRC conflict, according to Kenya’s president.
The meeting follows an agreement reached by South African Development Cooperation (SADC) Chairperson and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and East African Community (EAC) Chairperson and Kenyan President William Ruto.
On January 30, EAC leaders recommended the joint summit with SADC counterparts to deliberate on peaceful resolution to the escalating crisis.
This came after M23 rebels allegedly backed by Rwanda – captured Goma city of North Kivu Province in fierce fighting with Congolese troops on 27th January, and pushed their advance.
At least 773 people have been killed in Goma and its vicinity in a week, amid fighting and mass displacement to South Kivu and Rwanda, according to multiple UN and media sources.
In a statement on Monday, Kenyan president William Ruto announced that the SADC and EAC leadership has accepted a joint caucus on the conflict that now threatens to spill to the region.
“I am glad the leadership of the Southern African Development Community and the East Africa Community has agreed to jointly caucus on the conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo,” he said.
“Peace and security are critical ingredients for trade and investment in our region. Through our collective effort, we will ensure security reigns in our continent.”
Congolese president Tshisekedi had boycotted the EAC summit and announced a counter-offensive to reclaim the areas under the rebel control, although he voiced support to diplomatic solutions to resolve the conflict.
Tshiskedi and Kagame have now confirmed their participation at the SADC-EAC summit in Dar es Salaam – along with Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, and Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, according to Ruto.
The summit, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, will bring together heads of state from the 6-member East African Community (EAC) and the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss regional security and diplomatic interventions.
Mineral-rich eastern DRC has been devastated by decades of fighting between government forces and more than 120 armed groups, often involving bombs targeting civilians as the militias seek a share of the region’s gold and other resources.
Among them is M23, a militant group composed of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army just over a decade ago and rose to prominence in 2012.
Rwanda-backed forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have announced that they will pause their advance across the east of the country for humanitarian reasons.
The AFC/M23 rebel coalition has announced hat it would implement a unilateral ceasefire starting on February 4, 2025.
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