EAC, SADC leaders approve harmonised plan for FDLR neutralisation

Peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern DR Congo through the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes, are among the key resolutions of the joint East African Community and Southern African Development Community leaders meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Saturday, February 8. ALSO READ: Museveni reiterates call for Tshisekedi to ‘speak directly’ with M23 rebels Another key element is the leaders’ call for the implementation of an earlier approved harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR, a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The genocidal militia poses an existential threat to Rwanda, the entire region, and especially the Congolese Tutsi communities it has been persecuting in eastern DR Congo, resulting in the ongoing crisis in the region. ALSO READ: EAC-SADC leaders urge for political solution to silence guns in eastern DR Congo President Paul Kagame told the joint summit that DR Congo “cannot just tell us to keep quiet when they are mounting a security problem against our country. Nobody can tell us to shut up.” He said “we have been begging” DR Congo and its leaders for a long time, and “we have shared our issues” and asked DR Congo to address them, and they have refused. “DRC cannot just tell us to keep quiet when they are mounting a security problem against our country. Nobody can tell us to shut up. We have been begging DRC and its leaders for a long time, we have shared our issues and asked DRC to address them, and they have refused. Let us... pic.twitter.com/PZgxpA0oQV — Presidency | Rwanda (@UrugwiroVillage) February 8, 2025 Kagame said: “Let us not just have another meeting like the many we have had. We can’t go on forever massaging problems. What is happening there [DR Congo] is an ethnic war that has been brewing for a long time, denying people’s rights and then attacking Rwanda. You must recognize people’s rights and take a step and resolve the issue.” Kagame told EAC and SADC leaders that the ongoing war in eastern DR Congo was started by the Congolese government “and not anything from Rwanda.” “It was just brought and put on our shoulders and we were told to own it. We can’t own it. There is no question about it. Let us use this meeting in a manner that will put into account all these matters seriously, and find a lasting solution.” Last year, by mid-September, a plan to neutralise the FDLR, had been finalised and waited the final approval by the ministers of foreign affairs of Rwanda, DR Congo and Angola. But at a ministerial meeting held in the Angolan capital Luanda on September 14, Congolese foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner made a last-minute U-turn that surprised her counterparts and intelligence officials from the three countries, who had developed the plan. She refused to sign the final harmonised plan, which had been endorsed by the head of the Congolese military intelligence. ALSO READ: How Tshisekedi scuttled FDLR neutralisation plan at last minute The joint EAC-SADC summit, the first of its kind, emphasised that political and diplomatic engagement is the most sustainable solution to the conflict in eastern DR Congo and directed the two regional economic blocs’ respective chiefs of defence forces to meet within five days and provide technical direction on six key things including immediate and unconditional ceasefire and cessation of hostilities. 1/2 Communique of the Joint EAC- SADC Summit of the Heads of State and Government @SGNduva @SADC_News pic.twitter.com/0fYjVSPTst — East African Community (@jumuiya) February 8, 2025 The joint summit reaffirmed the critical role of the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes and directed that the two be merged, according to a communique published late Saturday. The summit also resolved to strengthen the two processes to enhance complementarity and mandated the co-chairs, in consultation with the AU. “The joint summit directed resumption of direct negotiations and dialogue with all state and non-state parties (military and non-military) including the M23 and under the framework of the Luanda/Nairobi process,” reads part of the communique of the joint EAC-SADC summit. Ministers from the two regional blocs on Friday, February 7, agreed to the implementation of a concept of operations to neutralise a Rwandan genocidal militia group based in eastern DR Congo and called upon Kinshasa to hold direct talks with the AFC/M23 rebels so as to resolve the conflict raging in the country’s east. Earlier, a communique issued by Kenya’s State Department for Foreign Affairs which co-chaired the ministers’ meeting, pointed out things that were agreed upon. Among the measures that ministers wanted to be worked on “immediately,” was the “implementation of the Concept of Operations (CONops) of the harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR,” as well as engagement in dialogue with non-state parties including M23. Eventually, the joint EAC-SADC summit also endorsed the plan, with the leaders calling for the implementation of the the harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda’s defence measures. Earlier this week, the government of Rwanda announced that it would maintain its defensive measures along the border with DR Congo as long as security threats from the Congolese army (FARDC) and its allies such as the FDLR exist. ALSO READ: SADC forces in DR Congo sought to 'bring war to Rwanda', says Foreign ministry On Thursday, during his first diplomatic briefing of 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amb Olivier Nduhungirehe reiterated Rwanda’s position on securing its borders and defending its territorial integrity and condemned silence by the international community in the face of atrocities, such as the recent FARDC attacks on Rubavu District, which resulted in the death of 16 Rwandan civilians. More than 100 others sustained injuries due to rockets fired into Rwanda by the Congolese army coalition but there was no condemnation from the UN or any other entities in the international community. Residents of Rubavu town which borders DR Congo’s Goma, told The New Times that the shelling on Rwandan territory by the Congolese army coalition would have claimed more lives had it not been for the resolve of the country’s security organs to shield the population. Part of the defensive measures maintained along the border with DR Congo is a rocket defense system that countered numerous rockets fired into Rubavu. At the onset, during their opening remarks before they started a closed session, some leaders from the two regional blocs openly called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and taking positive action to allow meaningful dialogue so as to end the escalating insecurity in eastern DR Congo. The escalating war between a Congolese government army coalition that includes FDLR, over 10,000 Burundian troops, 1,600 thousands of Congolese militia elements grouped in what is called Wazalendo, and South Africa-led SADC forces, against M23 rebels started in 2021. ALSO READ: Who are the AFC/M23 rebels, why are they fighting? M23, a rebel movement fighting for the rights of a persecuted Congolese community in the country North Kivu Province, is now a member of a larger rebel coalition, Alliance fleuve Congo (AFC), created in December 2023, that is fighting for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all Congolese citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict. Its leaders have vowed to uproot tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other vices, widespread in DR Congo. ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires On January 27, the AFC/M23 rebels captured Goma, the capital of eastern DR Congo's North Kivu Province, after a 48-hour deadline they imposed for the Congolese army and its coalition to surrender expired. VIDEO: Corneille Nangaa on capture of Goma, FDLR, and march to Kinshasa They moved on to consolidate their power in the city and the entire province, establishing new administration structures, and executing plans to ensure that internally displaced people return to their villages which are now secure. On February 5, the rebel alliance appointed new leaders for North Kivu Province, saying there was “a need and urgency to organize the territorial administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Nos remerciements à notre peuple pour cette marque de confiance massivement exprimée à notre organisation et à notre combat pour la sécurité, la paix et la justice pour tous. En répondant massivement à notre invitation, la population de Goma dément, à l’occasion, le nouveau... pic.twitter.com/2oLAsE0N7B — Bertrand Bisimwa (@bbisimwa) February 7, 2025 The rebels, in the past few days, also battled Congolese forces in parts of South Kivu Province. Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi, whose country is the main focus of the meeting, attended the joint EAC-SADC meeting virtually. During the official opening ceremony, Tanzanian President Hassan said: “As regional leaders, history will judge us harshly if we remain still and watch the situation worsen day by day. “And in line with the principle of African solutions to African problems, our countries have a collective responsibility to ensure that we urgently address the existing insecurity challenges that have heavily impacted the wellbeing of innocent civilians.” Kenyan President William Ruto who is the current EAC chairperson called upon the international community to step up and do its part in supporting regional efforts in delivering for the DR Congo. It is clear, he said, that the conflict in DR Congo is complex, delicate, protracted, and involves multiple actors pursuing differing interests. He said: “The issues at stake span a wide historical, economic, and political spectrum run back in time for many decades and spill across national and regional borders. There is also a clandestine international dimension at work, whose persistent cynical and destructive effects must neither be underestimated or ignored any longer. “For this reason, it is equally clear that such a conflict cannot be resolved through military means.” The EAC deployed troops to eastern DR Congo in November 2022 to support regional efforts to restore peace in the troubled region. At the time, M23 rebels had made large gains, capturing swathes of territory in areas bordering Rwanda and Uganda in North Kivu Province. VIDEO: Corneille Nangaa on capture of Goma, FDLR, and march to Kinshasa The East African Community regional force (EACRF), with troops from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and South Sudan, was able to create a conducive environment for peace to prevail by having M23 withdraw to designated areas and maintain a ceasefire between the rebels and the Congolese army until its breach in October 2023, something that reversed the gains that had so far been realised. Soon after deployment, however, Tshisekedi was critical, threatening to expel the regional force from his country. The EAC regional force which derived its mandate from Chapter 23 of the EAC Treaty and the EAC Protocol on Peace and Security, had a hard time in eastern DR Congo, ever since its deployment. After EACRF’s exit, Tshisekedi welcomed troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), or SAMIDRC, to battle the rebels. From then on, instead of getting better, the security situation in eastern DR Congo, worsened. Reports that the latter actually collaborated not only with the Congolese army but also with militias like FDLR and European mercenaries in fighting the AFC/M23 rebels further complicated the situation. ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires Kinshasa wanted the EAC regional force to battle the M23, which was not part of the latter's operational mandate. EAC’s troops begun withdrawing from DR Congo, in early December 2023, just over a year after they were deployed to support peace efforts for the country’s conflict-ridden eastern DR Congo. The EAC-led Nairobi process takes in the fact that the insecurity in eastern DR Congo pre-dates 1994, when a genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda claimed more than one million innocent lives, and was exacerbated by the retreat of defeated genocidal forces into eastern DR Congo where they regrouped to cause instability in the region.