Kagame of Rwanda and Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are scheduled to attend a combined summit in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam, which will bring together the 16-member South African Development Community and eight East African Community nations.
As regional leaders gather to try to calm the war in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwandan President Paul Kagame is scheduled to meet with his counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, in Tanzania.
Kagame and Tshisekedi are scheduled to attend a combined meeting between the 16-member South African Development Community and the eight East African Community nations on Saturday in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.
In an offensive that has killed thousands and displaced countless numbers, the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has quickly taken control of large areas of the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the most recent chapter of the region’s decades-long unrest, the gang captured the strategically important city of Goma last week and is now advancing into the neighboring province of South Kivu.
Angola and Kenya have hosted a number of failed peace negotiations since the M23’s resurgence in 2021. If both parties want it, Turkiye stated last month that it is prepared to offer any assistance required to settle the conflict between Rwanda and the DRC.
Rwanda denies providing military support to the M23, but according to a UN study, it has some 4,000 troops in the DRC last year and made money by smuggling large quantities of gold and coltan, a mineral that is essential for phones and computers, out of the nation.
Kinshasa is accused by Kigali of providing sanctuary to the FDLR, an armed group by ethnic Hutus that slaughtered Tutsis during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
Fears in the area
The summit takes place as the M23 moves closer to Kavumu, a town with an airport that is essential to the supply of Congolese troops.
Panic has set in at Kavumu, the final barrier on the Rwandan border before Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu.
Schools and institutions canceled classes on Friday, an a resident of Bukavu reported that stores were blocking their front doors and clearing out their storerooms out of fear of looting.
“The quantity of individuals attempting to cross the open border with Rwanda has made it nearly impossible to cross”. It’s complete chaos, they declared.
“If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s border’s”, issued a warning from UN rights chief Volker Turk.
“Gang slavery and rape”
According to Turk, since M23 invaded Goma on January 26, there have been around 3,000 confirmed deaths and 2,880 injuries, with the final numbers probably being far higher.
“Currently verifying multiple allegations of rape, and sexual slavery” was another statement he made about his squad.
In Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, the M23 has already installed its own mayor and municipal government.
Despite the fact that it is located 1,600 kilometers away across the vast country-roughly the size of Western Europe – it has promised to travel all the way to the national capital, Kinshasa.
The DRC army, known for its corruption and inadequate training, has been forced to retreat several times.
Given that a number of nations, notably South Africa, Burundi, and Malawi, are actively assisting the DRC militarily, the offensive has sparked worries of a regional conflict.
Before their leaders meet on Saturday, regional foreign ministers convened on Friday for the first day of the summit in Tanzania.
Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s foreign secretary, called for the merging of the earlier peace initiatives hosted by Angola and Kenya, stating that there was a “golden opportunity” to find a solution.
