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.
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.
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.
