The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
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President William Ruto and Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa are set to co-chair a Joint Summit on Saturday, bringing together the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss solutions for the ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC.
Ruto confirmed the summit on Monday after SADC agreed to the EAC’s request made during a summit in Harare on Friday, which addressed the M23 rebel group’s occupation of Goma—a situation that led Ruto to convene EAC leaders the previous Thursday.
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During a virtual summit, EAC Heads of State suggested the joint session. Ruto announced that Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu had agreed to host the summit in Dar es Salaam, where regional leaders will gather on Saturday. The meeting will be preceded by a ministerial session on Friday, with notable leaders such as DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, and Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud confirmed to attend.
The summit comes amid rising tensions between Rwanda and the DRC over M23’s advances in eastern DRC. Tshisekedi has accused Kagame of supporting the rebels, and South Africa’s Ramaphosa has criticized Rwanda’s actions, referring to the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) as a “militia”—a comment that angered Kagame.
Kagame has denied the allegations, repeatedly expressing frustration with the EAC’s handling of the crisis and its ineffective approach. He pointed out that Tshisekedi’s dissatisfaction with the EAC’s actions led him to seek SADC’s involvement, resulting in the EAC’s withdrawal from eastern DRC in December 2023. Kagame questioned why regional leaders were surprised when the situation worsened after the withdrawal and criticized the EAC for prioritizing national interests over regional unity.
He also dismissed the Nairobi and Luanda Processes, which he claimed became more about the individuals leading them than about achieving results. Kagame specifically referred to the processes as becoming focused on the agendas of Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Angola’s President João Lourenço.
Kagame later issued a statement addressing Ramaphosa’s remarks, strongly refuting the characterization of the RDF as a militia and accusing South Africa of distorting the truth. He expressed concern over the way these issues were being managed and how public statements often misrepresented the discussions.
