Foreign Affairs Ministers met at the 7th Ministerial meeting, ahead of the summit which was scheduled for Sunday, December 15.
The summit in Luanda, Angola, that was supposed to bring together leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this Sunday, to discuss ways of ending the conflict in the eastern DRC were called off, the Angolan presidency said, citing misunderstandings on the implementation process of proposed recommendations.
Mario Jorge, spokesperson of Angola’s President Lourenço told the media that the summit has been rescheduled to an unknown date.
“Contrary to what we expected, the summit will no longer be held today,” the presidency’s media officer Mario Jorge told journalists. President Joao Lourenco was tasked by the African Union to mediate talks between the two countries in view of resolving the conflict.
Reports indicate that the summit was called off before Congolese President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi boarded a plane but he proceeded to Angola, where he met President Lourenco and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the mediator of the Luanda process.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation dismissed claims made by DRC, pointing out that at the Ministerial meeting in Luanda on 14 December 2024, no consensus was reached between Rwanda and the DRC on a commitment to direct talks with the Congolese rebel group M23, for a political solution to the conflict in eastern DRC.
“This summit would therefore not have resulted in an agreement, particularly In the context of continued threats by DRC officials, including the President, to pursue regime change in Rwanda, as well as the wider coalition of forces deployed in Eastern DRC alongside FARDC including European mercenaries, the Burundian military, Wazalendo, and FDLR. There must be serious actions to deal with the FDLR beyond the games being played around this problem,” the Ministry said.
Rwanda said that the postponement of the summit allows time for the dialogue proposed by the President of Angola, João Lourenço (the facilitator), with former President Uhuru Kenyatta, between M23 and DRC, emphasizing that there are actions that the DRC can and must take for themselves without continually using Rwanda as a pretext for doing nothing.
“Rwanda remains ready to participate in a summit that would adopt a serious and concrete path to resolve these remaining questions once and for all,” the Ministry said.
Ahead of the scheduled summit, some reports had suggested that the meeting would not take place due to disagreements on the implementation of the Concept of Operations (CONOPS), which was agreed upon by the two countries.
Speaking to KT Press earlier this week, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, emphasized the lack of political will and good faith on the side of DRC, pointing out that public declarations by officials that the government of Tshisekedi would not engage in talks with M23 rebels, was a sign of lack of will to address the issue.
Minister Nduhungirehe said earlier this week, that DRC continues to show lack of political will.
“DRC has been talking about only one of the three resolutions which must be addressed immediately, which is Rwanda scaling down its security measures, but they say nothing about neutralising FDLR or holding talks with M23 rebels, to address their grievances, which is a responsibility they have,” Minister Nduhungirehe said.
He also said that during the implementation period, Congolese officials continued with warmongering against Rwanda and spreading ethnic hate and violence targeting Congolese Tutsi communities, which shows the lack of political will to address the longstanding conflict.
In a separate tweet, Nduhungirehe said that Rwanda is surprised by the statement made by the President of the DRC, endorsing conspiracy theories like the “great replacement” of the far right in Europe, which is dangerous and fuels xenophobia against Congolese Tutsi in Eastern DRC.
“Such statement is irresponsible at the eve of the Luanda summit, which main purpose will be to ensure that the DRC government is committed to engage into direct talks with its fellow countrymen, the M23, who are representing this marginalized Congolese Tutsi community, while more than 1.45 million internally displaced persons have returned to North Kivu, according to United Nations reports,” Amb. Nduhungirehe said.
Rwanda is surprised by the statement made by the President of the DRC, endorsing conspiracy theories like the “great replacement” of the far right in Europe, which is dangerous and fuels xenophobia against Congolese Tutsi in Eastern DRC.
Such statement is irresponsible at the… https://t.co/b08OGqPF8k
— Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe (@onduhungirehe) December 14, 2024
“Moreover, it doesn’t make any sense to claim that Rwandan citizens would leave a country in peace for a war zone, where civilians are facing daily violence and ethnic persecution by a hundred local militias, including the Wazalendo, and by the FDLR genocidaires, supported by Kinshasa,” he said, slamming the government of DRC.
The cancellation has dented hopes that the Luanda Process to restore peace in Eastern DRC and the Great Lakes Region, was creating, following recent gains, including the signing of the CONOPS between Amb. Nduhungirehe and DRC’s Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, under the facilitation of Angola.
It is not yet clear whether President Paul Kagame had arrived in Angola or not, but Amb. Nduhungirehe was already in Luanda for the preparatory meeting which happened Saturday.
Rwanda insists DRC has to discuss with M23 rebels, who hold parts of North Kivu and threaten to advance further if their grievances are not heard by Kinshasa. Kinshasa on the other hand accuses Rwanda of backing the rebels, allegations Rwanda denies, instead accusing DRC of supporting and co-opting the genocidal militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FLDR), into government forces, threatening Rwanda’s own security.
