President Kagame in Bujumbura, February 4
President Paul Kagame has been welcomed in Burundi where he is attending the extraordinary summit on Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) crisis.
Organised by the president of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current chairperson of East African Community Heads of State Summit, the summit will also be attended by President Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, William Ruto of Kenya and Yoweli Museveni of Uganda among other delegates from country members.
President Yoweli Kaguta Museveni of Uganda
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi is also expected according to media reports.
Since last year, DRC is in conflict with M23, a rebel group which is fighting the atrocities made against Kinyarwanda speaking congolese community.
Mediation efforts from Luanda and Nairobi yielded no fruits.
The massive country in the Western part of Rwanda accuses Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels, which Rwanda denies.
Rwandan officials say that DRC is only seeking to make Rwanda a scapegoat and is propagating hatred speech that may amount to Genocide.
President Samia Suruhu of Tanzania
The country is alleged doing nothing to implement mediation efforts that were proposed by EAC.
Kagame’s visit to Burundi marks a new era. The last visit if the Head of state was in September 2011.
Relations between Rwanda and Burundi soared when the latter experienced a political crisis following a decision of former President late Pierre Nkurunziza to seek a third term in office.
This was followed by a turmoil that sent many Burundians in refugee camps in regional countries, including Rwanda.
President William Ruto of Kenya
Burundi accused Rwanda of supporting its decedents, but Rwanda proved that its neighbor was only trying to find a scapegoat of its own problems.
Relations between both countries started improving with accession into power through election of President Evariste Ndayishimiye in June 2020.
In the last two years, Rwanda and Burundi have been receiving delegations of high level from either country, including special envoys of a head of state to his counterpart.
