Rwandan, Congolese Leaders Meet Over Eastern DRC Conflict
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi joined a summit in Tanzania on Saturday where regional leaders called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has rapidly seized swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC in an offensive that has left thousands dead and displaced vast numbers.
The group took the strategic city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, last week and is pushing into neighbouring South Kivu in the latest episode of decades-long turmoil in the region.
Kagame took part in person at the summit in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam that brought together the eight countries of the East African Community (EAC)and 16-member South African Development Community.
Tshisekedi appeared via video call.
“We call on all parties to actualise the ceasefire, and specifically on the M23 to halt further advancement and the armed forces of DRC to cease all retaliatory measures,” said Kenyan President William Ruto, current chair of the EAC.
The presidents of Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe were among those present when the summit began.
Since the M23 re-emerged in 2021, peace talks hosted by either Angola or Kenya have failed and multiple ceasefires have collapsed.
Rwanda denies military support for the M23.
But a United Nations report said last year Rwanda had around 4,000 troops in the DRC and profited from smuggling out of the country vast amounts of gold and coltan — a mineral vital for phones and laptops.
Rwanda accuses the DRC of sheltering the FDLR, an armed group created by ethnic Hutus who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The summit comes as the M23 advances on the town of Kavumu, which hosts an airport critical to supplying Congolese troops.
Kavumu is the last barrier before the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu on the Rwandan border, where panic has set in.
A Bukavu resident said shops were barricading their fronts and emptying storerooms for fear of looting, while schools and universities suspended classes on Friday.
“The border with Rwanda is open but almost impassable because of the number of people trying to cross. It’s total chaos,” they said.
