Rwandan President, Paul Kagame and his Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) counterpart, Félix Tshisekedi, are set to meet in Tanzania as regional leaders convene to address the escalating conflict in eastern DRC.
The summit, scheduled for Saturday in Dar es Salaam, will bring together leaders from the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to seek a resolution to the ongoing crisis.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has seized vast territories in eastern DRC, leading to thousands of deaths and mass displacement. Last week, the group took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, and is now advancing toward South Kivu, heightening fears of further instability.
Despite Rwanda’s denial of military support for M23, a UN report last year alleged that Kigali had deployed around 4,000 troops in the DRC and was profiting from smuggling gold and coltan—a critical mineral for electronics.
Kigali, in turn, accuses Kinshasa of harboring the FDLR, an armed group formed by ethnic Hutus involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide against Tutsis. With M23 forces nearing the town of Kavumu—home to an airport crucial for supplying Congolese troops—residents in the South Kivu capital, Bukavu, are panicking.
Shops have been barricaded, schools have closed, and thousands are trying to cross into Rwanda, causing chaos at the border. “If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, not just for the people of eastern DRC but for the entire region,” warned UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
Türk reported that nearly 3,000 people had been killed and close to 2,900 wounded since M23 took Goma on January 26, with the actual toll likely much higher. He also noted ongoing investigations into allegations of rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery by armed groups.
Meanwhile, the DRC military, weakened by corruption and poor training, has suffered multiple setbacks, forcing it to retreat in several key battles.
The situation has raised fears of a broader regional war, as several countries—including South Africa, Burundi, and Malawi—are providing military support to the Congolese government.
On Friday, regional foreign ministers met in Tanzania to set the stage for Saturday’s high-level discussions. Kenyan Foreign Secretary Musalia Mudavadi called for a unified peace process, proposing that previous talks hosted by Angola and Kenya be merged into a single initiative to maximize their effectiveness.
With the conflict escalating and tensions at an all-time high, the upcoming summit is seen as a crucial moment for diplomacy in a region on the brink of further chaos.
