Rwanda Accuses DRC of Escalating Conflict as Tshisekedi Skips Crisis Summit
The Rwandan Presidency released a statement shortly after the Dar summit, telling of DR Congo and insisting Kigali won't just fold its arm anymore.
Dar es Salaam – Rwandan President Paul Kagame has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) of fueling the ongoing conflict in its eastern region, warning that Rwanda will not remain silent as security threats mount along its border.
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His remarks came during the EAC-SADC Joint Summit in Dar es Salaam on February 8, 2025, which sought to address the worsening crisis.
The high-level meeting, co-chaired by Kenya’s President William Ruto and Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, was overshadowed by the absence of DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi, who delegated Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde to represent him.
Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye, whose troops are actively engaged in Eastern DR Congo, also skipped the summit, opting instead to travel to the United States for a prayer breakfast.
During the closed-door session, Kagame delivered a sharp rebuke of DR Congo’s handling of the crisis, dismissing claims that Rwanda is responsible for the violence and insisting that Kinshasa must address its internal problems instead of shifting blame.
"DR Congo cannot just tell us to keep quiet when they are mounting a security problem against our country. Nobody can tell us to shut up," Kagame said.
"We have been begging DR Congo and its leaders for a long time. We have shared our issues and asked DR Congo to address them, and they have refused."
Kagame, who has long argued that DR Congo's marginalisation of certain ethnic groups has fueled instability, warned that repeated summits without decisive action would be futile.
"Let us not just have another meeting like the many we have had. We can’t go on forever massaging problems. What is happening there is an ethnic war that has been brewing for a long time, denying people’s rights and then attacking Rwanda," he stated.
The Rwandan leader insisted that Kigali bears no responsibility for the conflict and rejected any attempts to implicate his country in the fighting.
"This war was started by DR Congo and not anything from Rwanda. It was just brought and put on our shoulders and we were told to own it. We can’t own it. There is no question about it," Kagame declared.
The summit, which brought together leaders from both the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), aimed to unify regional peace efforts, including the Luanda and Nairobi processes.
However, the absence of key figures, including Tshisekedi and Ndayishimiye, raised concerns over the commitment of some leaders to finding a diplomatic resolution.
With tensions running high and Kagame openly challenging DR Congo’s leadership, the summit’s call for an immediate ceasefire and political dialogue faces significant hurdles.
The focus now shifts to whether regional leaders can broker a meaningful solution or if the crisis will continue to escalate, drawing in neighboring countries even further.
