The summit of leaders from the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) due on Saturday, February 8, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is a laudable move in the quest for peace and security in the war-affected eastern DR Congo, pan-Africanists have said.
The need for the joint summit followed the capture of Goma, a strategic city in DR Congo’s conflict-ridden eastern region, by AFC/M23 rebels, which vowed to continue its fight up to the capital Kinshasa.
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M23 argues it resorted to the use of arms in the DR Congo crisis as an attempt to protect the rights of the Congolese Tutsi community, who have been for a long time persecuted by genocidal militia and the Congolese armed forces (FARDC).
The conflict has also strained relations between DR Congo and Rwanda as Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting the rebels. Rwanda dismisses these allegations, pointing to its security concerns about the threats presents across the border in eastern DR Congo, where the FARDC collaborates with the genocidal FDLR militia and foreign forces, as well as regime change threats by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi.
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Members of the Pan-African Movement, Rwanda Chapter (PAM-Rwanda) told The New Times that Africa should be a united continent where citizens enjoy their rights, free movement, and can trade or have economic cooperation which is not inhibited by borders.
But, conflicts and wars in different parts of the continent – including that in DR Congo – have become a stumbling block to the achievement of such a goal.
"Africa should look for home-grown solutions,” said Marie Claire Uwamariya, the acting Secretary-General of PAM Rwanda.
She described the joint EAC-SADC summit to deal with DR Congo crisis as "a major step which points to progress for African countries.”
Previously, she said, the African leaders would go to places such as Paris for a meeting on an issue occurring in DR Congo.
"The fact that they decided to meet in one of African countries to address the problem implies progress in mindset change,” Uwamariya observed, suggesting that by so doing, they are acting without reliance on other states with different interests in Africa.
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Michael Shyaka Nyarwaya, the Commissioner of Political Integration and International Relations at PAM Rwanda, said the first thing to appreciate is that the EAC and SADC Heads of State and are able to meet over DR Congo situation.
"What is most important is that these leaders who are meeting are looking for a solution. The solution may be obtained on the same day, or not, but dialogue will continue,” Nyarwaya said.
"In anyway, this is a step that had never taken place before, it is a step we should be proud of, which makes us as Africa realise we are progressing,” he said.
Nevertheless, Nyarwaya said, whichever way considered by the leaders in Dar es Salam, the rights of the Congolese people who have suffered injustice for decades should take the centre stage.
"A person who was born in a given place, where even their grandfather was born, no one has the right to evict them from their ancestral land. People should find appropriate solution that does not endanger a citizen,” he observed.
The Vice Chairperson of PAM Rwanda, Epimaque Twagirimana, said unity is crucial for the continent to achieve peace and stable economies, as well as development led by its people.
Much as there are entities such as the EAC and SADC responsible for handling the insecurity situation in DR Congo, he said pan-Africanists can contribute to the much-needed unity and peace.
"That is what we, pan-Africanists, strive for: that people have solidarity to achieve the unity of Africans, which we deserve,” he said.