Luanda summit agrees on roadmap to address DR Congo crisis

Presidents Paul Kagame, his DR Congo counterpart Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi and their host, João Lourenço, have agreed on a ‘roadmap on the pacification process in the eastern region of DR Congo’. The roadmap was agreed on during the tripartite summit held in Luanda on Wednesday, July 6. The presidents met to discuss the crisis in DR Congo and find ways to de-escalate tensions between Rwanda and DR Congo, a meeting convened by Lourenço in his capacity as the Chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). According to the roadmap, the two countries agreed to normalise the political and diplomatic relations and establish a climate of trust between the states of the region and create optimal conditions for dialogue and political consultation to resolve the current security crisis in eastern DR Congo. The roadmap also instructs an immediate defeat of the “FDLR and its splinter groups (CNRD, FLN, RUD-Urunana, and FPPH-Abajyarugamba) which are at the origin of tensions between Rwanda and DRC and play a major role in the insecurity of DR Congo.” There was also an agreement to strongly fight hate speech in DR Congo, which has increased in the recent past targeting Rwanda. The roadmap also committed to reactivate the Joint Intelligence Team Rwanda-DR Congo and agree on the practical modalities to fight the FDLR in coordination with regional mechanisms and blocs like the FDLR. As part of the process to restore normalcy between Kigali and Kinshasa, the summit also ordered for the reconvening of the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) on July 12 in Luanda. Rwanda has persistently lodged a number of complaints, including against the existence of the genocidal FDLR militia on DR Congo territory for 28 years. Recent evidence has shown that Kinshasa has embedded the FDLR into its army and even supported it to destabilise Rwanda, including continuous skirmish attacks on Rwandan territory in the past years to current. Rwanda has accused FARDC, the Congolese forces, of working with FDLR to shell Rwanda’s territory three times this year. Two Rwandan soldiers patrolling the border were also abducted and later returned to Rwanda following President Lourenço’s intervention. On the other hand, Kinshasa has accused Kigali of supporting the M23 rebel group, which has lately been capturing territories in eastern DR Congo. However, Rwanda vehemently dismissed the accusation and insisted that it is an internal DR Congo issue that should be addressed internally. As a result, the Luanda summit called, in the roadmap, for an immediate prevention of violations of territorial integrity and ensuring compliance with the commitments made by ICGLR states in this regard. The summit also agreed on an immediate creation of an ad-hoc verification mechanism led by an Officer General of the Republic of Angola. The mechanism will be looking into the accusations levelled by Rwanda and DR Congo to verify their authenticity. With regards to the issue of M23, the summit agreed that this was an internal Congolese issue that should be addressed within the framework of the Nairobi Process. President Lourenço will oversee the implementation of the roadmap. The Nairobi Process is a parallel effort to find a solution to DR Congo’s crisis and it is led by Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta in his capacity as Chairperson of the East African Community, of which Rwanda and DR Congo are both members. The initiative aims at creating a long-term solution for peace in eastern DR Congo and part of the options that have been agreed is deploying an East African Community Force to eastern DR Congo to deal with all armed groups. DR Congo has expressed concerns about Rwanda contributing to the proposed regional force – a concern President Kagame said he is fine with as long as the force deployed addresses Rwanda’s concern, which is uprooting the FDLR militia and other negative forces that target Rwanda.

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Luanda summit agrees on roadmap to address DR Congo crisis