On February 8, 2025, Congolese President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi declined to attend to physically attend the Joint SADC-EAC Summit in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on the worsening security crisis in Eastern the Democratic Republic of the Congo, caused by Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) who have invaded the DRC under the cover of M23 rebels and reinforced by Ugandan People Defense Forces (UPDF). He, instead, sent the Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa as his representative and participated virtually. This is a second decline to attend such meetings, that appear to be setups and masquerades by some African leaders to cover their questionable and controversial agendas.
As the Joint SADC-EAC Summit meeting was being held, the Rwandan government was reinforcing its Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) troops in South-Kivu, heading towards the town of Bukavu. Meanwhile, the World community, including the United Nations, European Union, the United States of America, continue to express worries. Independent observers, journalists, and political analysts continue to point to these setup meetings as prelude to a potential human tragedy similar to the one in Rwanda in 1994, following the assassination of the late Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, on his way back from a similar meeting Arusha, Tanzania.
On January 27, 2025, President Felix Tshisekedi declined to attend a meeting in Nairobi, organized by the current East-African Community Kenyan President William Ruto (DR Congo: Felix Tshisekedi Declines to Attend a EAC Meeting in Nairobi, Seemingly Mirroring the 1994 Rwandan Arusha Setup Meeting).
The Joint SADC-EAC summit, hosted by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, included South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Kenyan President William Ruto, Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni, and Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame.
Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame were instrumental in the 1994 Arusha meeting that preceded the assassination of the late Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira.
Felix Tshisekedi’s announcement of the decision to skip the Joint SADC-EAC Summit at the last minute, although it was predicted by political analysts and sources contacted by AfroAmerica Network given the dynamics, appears to have reinforced his wise approach, outsmarting Kenyan President William Ruto, Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni, and Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame.
In fact, The EAC’s recent virtual summit had called on Felix Tshisekedi to “engage directly with his armed opponents”, especially M23 rebels, in an effort to find a political solution to the conflict, an proposition that Felix Tshisekedi has consistently rejected and has rather committed to the widely supported Luanda Process led by Angola President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, which Paul Kagame has been trying to avoid. Strangely, these EAC members, during the Joint SADC-EAC summit, continued to push for that proposition.
In the pursuit of understanding the dynamics the sudden change of stance by President Felix Tshisekedi, AfroAmerica Network has continued to contact some political analysts and observers of the political dynamics in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, that includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, parts of Kenya and Tanzania.
Many of these political analysts and observers continue to highlight the similitude between the planed meeting DR Congo President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi and Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame and the Arusha accords of 1994 between the late Rwandan President Habyarimana Juvenal and the then Rwandan Patriotic Front military leader Paul Kagame. Hence, they warned about the potential similar outcome.
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No Clear Commitments During the SADC-EAC Joint Summit
The analysts and sources contacted by AfroAmerica Network continue to wonder whether President Felix Tshisekedi, like the Late Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, continues to be called for these meeting with a potentially devilish plan behind and whether the Great Lakes Region of Africa is about to experience a humanitarian tragedy similar to what happened in Rwanda since 1994.
Speaking at the Joint SADC-EAC Summit in Dar es Salaam on Saturday morning, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan called on other African leaders to show commitment, leadership,and integrity in solving their own problems, by finding a logical and pragmatic solution to the ongoing crisis in eastern DRC.
“As regional leaders, history will judge us harshly if we remain still and watch the situation worsen day by day.. In line with the principle of African solutions for Africa’s problems, our countries have a collective responsibility to ensure we urgently address the existing security challenges that have heavily impacted the well-being of innocent civilians,” she said.
In the end the Joint SADC - EAC conclusions focused on the following:
- Commitment to the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes as a single framework, with the aim to improve coordination and effectiveness.
- call for direct negotiations and dialogue with all state and non-state parties (military and non-military), including the M23, under the framework of the Luanda/Nairobi process.
- Implementation of the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) of the harmonized plan for the neutralization of FDLR and The lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures/disengagement of forces from the DRC.
- Commitment to continue supporting the DRC in its pursuit of safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
What is so strange is that DR Congo government was called on to negotiate with the so called M23 rebels, whereas Rwandan government was not asked to negotiate with its opposition, including armed groups operating in the region.
Meanwhile, Rwandan RDF troops , allegedly reinforced by Ugandan UPDF troops, under the cover of M23 Rebels, using mass killings have reached the borders of Bukavu, pushing the population to flee their homes and aggravating mass displacement and humanitarian tragedies.
These invading RDF troops continue to expand to the areas in Eastern DRC especially where the rich minerals including coltan, gold, lithium, and tin ore are abundant.
The stance taken by Felix Tshisekedi towards the EAC and SADC-EAC summits continues to be applauded by the Congolese people and political and military leaders as courageous and a sign of integrity and dedication to the interests of the nation of DR Congo.
The dynamics during the two summit meetings have reinforced the views and the key major reasons on why these meetings are useless with potentially dire consequences, if not deadly traps for the DR Congo President and people.
Before the Joint SADC-EAC Summit, several leaders within the EAC, with the exception of the Republic of Burundi, have never publicly condemned the invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) troops, hence, showing their silent support of the invasion or lack of care for the Congolese people. Some SADC leaders, especially South African Cyril Ramaphosa has maintained his stance that Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame and his government are the main source of the humanitarian tragedy in Eastern DR Congo.
Now, SADC and EAC leaders have called for the withdrawal of "uninvited foreign armed forces from the territory of the DRC" and emphasized their commitment to safeguarding Congolese sovereignty.
Rwanda Troops Getting Ready for a Repeat of the 1994 Rwandan Human Tragedy and a Potential Military Coup in Rwanda.
As Congolese President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi has cancelled his EAC meeting in Nairobi, Kenya and declined to physically attend the Joint SADC-EAC summit in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, reports coming from sources close to the Rwandan Defense Forces leaders that Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) troops deployed near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo have been getting ready to attack and to emulate what happened in Rwanda in 1994.
At the same time, the RDF special forces have been deployed in several areas surrounding the Rwandan capital, Kigali, apparently to get ready for on-going grumbling and potential mutinies of soldiers apposed to the invasion of the Eastern DR Congo and families whose children and relatives enrolled in RDF have been massively killed on battlefields.
Now, the main question remains: Are DR Congo leaders, SADEC, MONUSCO, and other World actors ready for what may come next?
AfroAmerica Network is still following the dynamics.
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