Minister Nduhungirehe attended the Ministerial session ahead of the Joint EAC-SADC Heads of State Summit scheduled for this Saturday.
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe on Friday participated in a ministerial session ahead of the joint extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) which takes place this Saturday, to address the security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Heads of State from the two blocs will meet at a meeting which comes amid rising tensions, following the capture of Goma by the M23 rebels who threaten to capture more parts of the vast nation if the government in Kinshasa does not accept to engage in dialogue to resolve the longstanding conflict.
The Ministerial session, chaired by EAC Secretary General, Veronica M. Nduva, seeks to lay ground on how the ongoing challenges posed by instability and conflict in Eastern DRC can be tackled, coming up with proposed resolutions which will be endorsed by the Heads of State Summit.
President Paul Kagame has expressed his interest to attend the joint summit, which will also expected to be attended by all Heads of State from the two regional blocs, including President William Samoei Ruto, current EAC Chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, host president Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, and current chair of SADC, among others.
It is not yet clear if President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi of DRC will attend the summit expected to cool down tensions but SG Ndumva expressed optimism in the summit to come up with unified approaches to combat insecurity and restore peace and stability in the region.
EAC SG Nduva consults during the ministerial session.
The outcomes of the summit are expected to pave the way for more robust interventions to restore peace and security in Eastern DRC and also restore diplomatic ties between countries, amid escalating differences.
Rwanda maintains its position to defend her borders from threats from the DRC government forces, following threats by Kinshasa to wage war against Rwanda, coupled with recent information coming from Goma, which showed that indeed DRC was intent on destabilizing Rwanda.
In a diplomatic briefing earlier this week, Minister Nduhungirehe told diplomats accredited to Rwanda that there is documented evidence that DRC was planning to attack Rwanda, with the support of foreign forces fighting in eastern DRC, including the FDLR, going by a major weapons confiscated by M23 following the capture of Goma.
Amb. Nduhungirehe said that the cache of weapons indicated that combat objectives were not limited to defeating the M23, but also attacking Rwanda, which happened, with 16 people killed by shelling on Rwandan territory and many others injured.
“Rwanda will not wait for the threat to materialize; this is why we will maintain defensive measures at the border to prevent any spillover and respond appropriately. These measures shall be maintained so long as the threat posed by this coalition continues to exist,” Nduhungirehe said.
South Africa was represented.
Ahead of the summit, Nduhungirehe reiterated Rwanda’s commitment to peace, maintaining that a political solution to the conflict is what is needed. He added however, in order for any peace to hold, it must include the neutralization of the FDLR and the withdrawal of all foreign forces involved in the conflict.
Rwanda also maintains that direct talks between the Government of the DRC and the M23 will provide a sustainable solution to the conflict, and this is what is expected from the joint summit.
Hot among the topics on the agenda will be the presence of South African troops in DRC, recently caught in the skirmishes between M23 and FARDC. President Ramaphosa claimed that they were killed by the ‘RDF militia’, in reference to the Rwandan army, a comment which did not go down well with President Kagame, who accused his South African counterpart of distorting the conversation they had.
Rwanda has also questioned the involvement of SANDF, despite South Africa not sharing borders with the DRC, with President Kagame stating that South Africa is not a peacemaker in the conflict but rather one of the parties with interests. The summit is expected to diffuse the tensions when the leaders meet face.
