Heads of Defence Forces in the East African Community (EAC) are expected to meet “as soon as possible” to find a sustainable solution to the rampant security crisis in eastern DR Congo. A statement issued by Burundi’s Presidential Spokesperson, Alain Diomede Nzeyimana on November 01 indicated that President Evariste Ndayishimiye made calls to regional leaders in his capacity as Chairperson of the EAC Summit of Heads of State to harmonise views on ways and means of managing DR Congo security crisis. “It was decided that a meeting of Heads of Defence Forces of the EAC member countries should be held as soon as possible to study the parameters of a concerted and sustainable response, which will be followed by an extraordinary summit of Heads of State,” reads the statement. This comes only three days after the Kinshasa government expelled Rwanda’s envoy Vincent Karega, a decision they said was largely hinged on allegations that Rwanda continues to support the M23 rebellion. Rwanda referred to the expulsion as a “regrettable” decision in a sequence of blame games to cover up their own governance and security failures.” Rwanda has accused DR Congo of embedding the FDLR terrorists and genocidal forces into its national army, FARDC and deliberately attacked Rwanda by shelling on the Rwandan territory. Rwanda recently warned it will not stand idly by if FARDC and FDLR continued shelling its territory. Also, DR Congo continues to direct hate speech and violence against Rwandans and Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese communities. Meanwhile, on October 20, DR Congo launched an offensive against M23 rebels’ controlled territories using heavy weapons – some that targeted areas neighbouring Rwanda. This, according to reports from DR Congo, made the M23 rebels push back and eventually captured more territories. Also, during a recent discussion with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Paul Kagame said: “The ways and means to de-escalate and address the issues to a peaceful end are with us building on the Nairobi, Luanda and other international efforts. We just have to commit ourselves to apply them.” Meanwhile, Kenya Defence Force also announced troops deployment to DR Congo as part of a regional force meant to take action to restore peace in the country.
