Rwandan President Paul Kagame (right) with the Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi pose for a photograph at the Serena Hotel in Rubavu, Rwanda, on June 25, 2021.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi snubbed a meeting convened by President William Ruto to discuss the security crisis in his country but confirmed attendance of a separate meeting convened by southern African countries, putting into doubt his commitment to the East African Community (EAC) bloc.
President Ruto had called the Extraordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State in his capacity as chair of the regional bloc.
The meeting held Wednesday evening discussed measures to de-escalate fighting in Goma City, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has spread into the capital Kinshasa.
Congolese civilians who fled from Goma following fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese army arrive at a reception centre in Rugerero, Rubavu district, Rwanda, on Tuesday.
Through spokesperson Tina Salama, President Tshisekedi said he was unable to attend the virtual meeting due to a scheduling conflict.
The DRC leader, who has recently shown little interest in EAC matters, skipped the last Heads of State Summit in Arusha late last year without apology.
He is, however, expected to attend today’s extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the same matter in Zimbabwe.
SADC announced on Wednesday that it was convening an Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government in Harare, chaired by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.
Unwilling partner
President Tshisekedi has proved an unwilling partner in the EAC bloc he led his country into in 2022, with his officials often expressing disappointment that their expectations remained largely unfulfilled, especially in enforcing peace in the volatile east.
DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi speaking during a past news conference. PHOTO | REUTERS
“When we joined the EAC it was to connect our country with the region. The regional bloc was committed to peace-building but, unfortunately, we have little progress,” Government Spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in 2023 when Kinshasa started slackening in matters EAC integration.
DRC was supposed to take the rotational chair of the EAC Summit last year but, with President Tshisekedi being a no-show, and the next in line, President Suluhu, asking to skip until she is done with this year’s election, it was turned to President Ruto.
The partners pointed out DRC’s lack of commitment to the community and some even suggested sanctions on partners who breach provisions of the EAC Treaty.
Also Read: Embassies attacked as DRC erupts
When President Ruto announced the emergency meeting on Sunday, he said that both protagonists in the Congo conflict, President Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame—accused of backing the M23 rebels—had assured him of their attendance.
“I would like to thank Presidents Tshisekedi and Kagame for confirming their participation in this summit,” Dr Ruto said. “This is in line with the decision of the East African Community summit of November 2024, which called for constructive engagement to resolve the conflict.”
DRC has been in default on payment of mandatory contributions to the EAC budget. As of November 2024, Kinshasa owed the bloc over Sh2.6 billion ($20 million). Since joining the community, DRC has only paid Sh130 million ($1 million) towards the regional budget.
The snubbing of Dr Ruto's meeting lends credence to the belief among Congolese that Kenya— and President Ruto—is pro-Rwanda in the diplomatic falling-out.
Rioters who attacked the Kenyan embassy in Kinshasa on Tuesday morning accused Kenya of “interference.”
They also accused Uganda, South Africa, France, Belgium and the United States of taking sides in the raging conflict in the eastern part of DRC, where M23 rebels have taken control of the North Kivu capital, Goma, closed the airspace and occupied the airport.
War-displaced people flee towards the city of Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on November 15, 2022.
Kenya protested the “unwarranted attacks, looting and destruction of property” and demanded compensation from Kinshasa.
The Nation could not immediately establish the extent of the damage, as the embassy officials remained cagey.
Nairobi does not have a substantive ambassador in Kinshasa as Shem Amadi, appointed last year, has never presented his papers amid somewhat tense diplomatic relations between the two capitals, incidentally partly blamed on the 2023 launch of the Congo River Alliance (Alliance Flueve Congo – AFC), which is affiliated to the M23.
The Congo crisis is a banana skin for President Ruto in his quest for peace. He has, since his days as Deputy President, made gaffes that rubbed the Congolese the wrong way.
A member of the security forces removes obstacles from a road, during a demonstration in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 28, 2025.
In 2022, he angered the DRC’s public after deriding their alleged inability to rear cows, and their penchant to wear high-waist trousers—depicted in music videos. It took an official apology from Kenya’s then Ambassador to Kinshasa, Dr John Masafu, to appease them. But the Congolese have never forgotten that.
As President, he appointed Col Amadi to replace Dr Masafu in Kinshasa but President Tshisekedi has kept the ambassador waiting in the queue to present credentials since November 2023, so the embassy has been without a head for more than a year.
A member of the security forces removes obstacles from a road, during a demonstration in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 28, 2025.
That is a paradox, especially since DRC has risen to become Kenya’s most important trading partner in recent years.
'Meddling'
The Congolese political class perceives Dr Ruto and the EAC as interfering in their affairs.
Politician Francin Muyumba Nkanga says it in no uncertain terms: “Mr President William Ruto, (The EAC) @jumuiya has failed and can never be honest on these issues,” she wrote when President Ruto announced the meeting on X on Monday.
“Kenya has been leading this process since and what are the results? The region needs the truth far from hypocrisy to handle this chaotic situation I think.”
Francin, who calls herself a “patriotic citizen”, is part of a team of Congolese who patrol online platforms to respond to those attacking her country’s polity. She was there when Ruto made the gaffe about cows and she was there this week when he spoke of seeking a solution for the current crisis.
Protesters clash with riot police forces in front of the French Embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo January 28, 2025.
However, the problem for President Ruto is more about how to solve the crisis and keep his relations with President Tshisekedi intact.
Kinshasa’s refusal to receive the papers of the Kenyan envoy can be seen as more of revenge than about Amadi’s credentials. Kinshasa had demanded that Kenya deport political leaders affiliated to the M23 rebel movement and AFC.
Nairobi declined, even after they held a press conference in Nairobi and promised to march on Kinshasa. At the time, President Ruto cited freedom of speech. Kinshasa has since sentenced some of the AFC leaders to death, in absentia.
As chair of the EAC, however, personal differences should be the last hurdle because he is expected to cultivate peace among member states.
Additional reporting by Patrick Ilunga and Aggrey Mutambo.
