Rwandan and Congolese presidents to meet in Dar es Salaam
Rwandan president Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart, Félix Tshisekedi, will attend an extraordinary joint summit in Tanzania's Dar es Salaam on Saturday. This was announced by Kenya, which currently chairs the EAC.
Tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have been particularly high in recent weeks since the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group seized large parts of eastern Congo's North Kivu province, including its capital, Goma.
Neighbouring countries are trying to get the two countries to negotiate. The latest summit is being organised by the eight member states of the Community of East African States (EAC) and the 16 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in an attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully.
The summit will be hosted by the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's economic capital. As well as Tshisekedi and Kagame, various other Afican presidents will attend the summit, including William Ruto of Kenya and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
Many failed summits
It is not the first time that African countries have tried to bring Kagame and Tshisekedi together. Last December, Kagame did not show up to a peace summit in the Angolan capital, Luanda. This failed meeting led to an intensification of the conflict and the capture of Goma.
The EAC organised a virtual summit on the situation last week, which Tshisekedi did not attend. The SADC countries, which have a peacekeeping mission in the east of the country, also met last week. The DRC is a member of the organisation, but Rwanda is not.
Rwandan president Paul Kagame (left) and president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi © PHOTO FAYEZ NURELDINE, LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
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