By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Heads of government in East Africa have raised concern that Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighbouring Rwanda may be heading to a strained diplomatic relations, calling for a ceasefire between both countries.
This is in view of the escalating tension amid talks of war as Congo and Rwanda trade allegations of backing the M23 armed rebels.
In a communique issued on Saturday at the end of a regional meeting, the East African Community, EAC summit, the bloc appealed to countries contributing troops to the Eastern DRC peace-keeping mission to immediately deploy more soldiers to the eastern Congo mission.
Secretary General of the EAC, Peter Mathuki, said: “There must be immediate ceasefire by all political parties.
He added: “The withdraw including all foreign armed groups and directed the chief of defence forces of all the partners states of East African Community to meet urgently within the next one week and set new timelines for the withdrawal and the commend appropriate deployment matrix in different parts of eastern DRC.”
The heads of state of both Congo and Rwanda attended in a “cordial and friendly atmosphere,” the communique said.
Analysts are concerned about the regional effects if the two countries slide again into all-out conflict as they did in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Tension rose last month after Rwanda fired on a Congolese military aircraft it accused of violating its airspace, an action Congo called “a deliberate act of aggression that equals an act of war” with the goal of sabotaging regional peace efforts.
Congo for months has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group whose origins lie in the region’s ethnic fighting and powerful voices in the West have openly agreed.
Rwanda denies backing the M23 group, which is one of dozens operating in mineral-rich eastern Congo.
It has responded by accusing Congo of backing another rebel group that reportedly includes ethnic Hutus who participated in the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The summit on Saturday came days after Pope Francis visited Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, to highlight the effects the decades of conflict have had on the country, particularly eastern Congo.
