Museveni, Kagame to Meet Tshisekedi Over Insecurity

Thursday, April 21, 2022

President Museveni, his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame attended the signing ceremony hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta and attended by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, who signed the treaty of accession making the DRC the 7th member of EAST African Community (EAC) on April 8, 2022. PHOTO/ RWANDA PRESIDENCY

By Andrew Bagala

What you need to know:

President Tshisekedi arrived in Nairobi, Kenya last night and other leaders are expected to meet today for the Quintipartite Mini-Summit devoted to peace and security of the East African Community.

In February this year, the two were supposed to meet in the Great Lakes Heads of State summit on Peace, Cooperation and Security in DRC’s capital Kinshasa, but President Kagame delegated his premier who attended the meeting.

President Museveni is to meet regional leaders, including the Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Burundi Évariste Ndayishimiye in Nairobi, Kenya, over insecurity in the region.

They will be hosted by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Tshisekedi arrived in Nairobi, Kenya last night and other leaders are expected to meet today for the Quintipartite Mini-Summit devoted to peace and security of the East African Community.

“Evoked on March 30, on the occasion of the last meeting marked by the accession of the DRC to the East African Community, this Mini-Summit will examine the imperatives of stabilization of the region within the framework of the community goals,” President Tshikedi said in a tweet.

The meeting comes at the time when Kenya, through its embassy in Democratic Republic of Congo, suspended their nationals’ operation along Mahagi-Bunia-Kisangani Road over insecurity that left several Kenyans and Ugandans hijacked.

In a letter dated April 17, Mr Peter Owiti, the head of Chancery and Deputy Head of Mission in Kenya Embassy in Kinshasa said two Kenyan drivers were kidnapped and trucks set on fire by militants in Eastern DRC.

Trucks driven by Kenyan nationals were burnt down by militias along Mahagi-Bunia-Kisangani route in Eastern DRC last week. Two Kenyans were kidnapped by the militias.  Photo/Courtesy

“The Embassy of Kenya in DRC issued a notice to Kenyan business community, particularly the truck owners and truck drivers, to immediately suspend their operations along the Mahagi-Bunia-Kisangani route until proper security measures are put in place,” he said.

A physical meeting between the regional leaders was supposed to be held last year, but flopped due to the spread of Coronavirus in the country. The meeting was held virtually.

In February this year, the two were supposed to meet in the Great Lakes Heads of State summit on Peace, Cooperation and Security in DRC’s capital Kinshasa, but President Kagame delegated his premier who attended the meeting.

Uganda and DRC signed an agreement to have joint military operations in eastern DRC against the Allied Democratic Forces rebels.

Rwanda too attempted to have a similar agreement at the police level with the Congolese government but it was rejected by security commanders and politicians in Kinshasa, the capital city of DRC.

Recently, the DRC accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels that staged attacked in Tshanzu and Runyoni, Eastern DRC near Bunagana border, which led to an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees into Uganda.

In November 2021 when M23 rebels attacked the same areas, the DRC government said they arrested Rwanda Defence Forces’ soldiers among the rebel ranks, an allegation Rwanda denies.

Last week, the M23 rebels agreed to a ceasefire with the DRC troops, which Lt Gen Kainerugaba described as a good thing.

“Let the regional leaders @KagutaMuseveni, @PaulKagame and President Tshisekedi handle your issues politically,” Lt Gen Kainerugaba tweeted.

The fighting between the M23 rebels and the DRC troops has affected the construction of the 90km road by a Ugandan construction company on the side of DRC. The road is expected to connect Uganda to Goma Town in DRC.