East African leaders agreed, on Monday 7, to harmonise regional mechanisms to bring an end to the insecurity in eastern DR Congo. The agreement was reached during a high level meeting in Egypt on the sidelines of the ongoing COP27 summit. The meeting, chaired by President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, who is the chairperson of the East African Community, was attended by Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, William Ruto of Kenya, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania as well as Prime Minister Sama Lukonde of DRC, who represented President Felix Tshisekedi, and the EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki. In a tweet on Tuesday, President Ruto said they had agreed to harmonise the EAC’s efforts with the Angola-mediated process of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), called the Luanda roadmap. “Insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to deny the region an opportunity to engage economically and prosper,” Ruto said. “We have agreed to harmonise our approach and work together with Angola towards ensuring there is peace in DRC.” The EAC, however, has not publicly communicated about the outcome of the meeting. As one of the peaceful attempts to pacify eastern DRC, the Luanda roadmap was signed in July this year, after a tripartite summit between Presidents Kagame, Tshisekedi and Angola’s João Lourenço, who is the chair of the ICGLR. The conflict in eastern DRC between government forces (FARDC) and the M23 rebels escalated on October 20, when the insurgents renewed attacks, capturing key territories. The Congolese government claims Rwanda supports the rebels, which Kigali denies, calling the conflict an intra-Congolese problem. The Rwandan government has denounced the collaboration between FARDC and FDLR militias in shelling on its territory. The diplomatic tensions between the two countries have risen, since the expulsion of Rwanda’s ambassador in Kinshasa – a move Kigali described as “regrettable.” The latest escalation happened on Monday, when a Congolese warplane violated Rwanda’s airspace, prompting Kigali to issue a note verbale to DRC in protest of the provocations.
