SADC and EAC summit to address Eastern DRC crisis in Tanzania

On Monday, February 3, Kenya, which currently holds the presidency of the East African Community (EAC), announced a joint summit with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) scheduled for Friday, February 7, and Saturday, February 8, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The statement also confirmed the participation of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who is also the current EAC chair, revealed plans for this summit to address the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The urgency of the meeting follows the recent M23 offensive, supported by Rwanda, on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, and ongoing clashes in South Kivu.

In recent days, both regional organizations, which have differing views on conflict resolution, expressed the need for a joint meeting as soon as possible to align their positions and mitigate the risk of regional escalation.

Onesphore Sematumba, an analyst for the Great Lakes region at the International Crisis Group, notes that the swift announcement of the summit is a positive sign given the urgent situation following the escalation of verbal and military tensions.

The purpose of this extraordinary summit is to attempt to "reconnect with diplomacy and put an end to the cycle of clashes" in eastern DRC, he adds.

However, achieving this goal requires the EAC and SADC to align their positions, which is currently not the case.

The EAC advocates for direct negotiations between the Congolese government and the M23, a prospect that President Félix Tshisekedi has so far rejected.

This has led him to replace the EAC's peacekeeping force in the DRC with that of the SADC, which has aligned itself with Kinshasa in its recent summit, calling for Rwanda to withdraw from Congolese territory.

The analyst cautions against having overly high expectations, stating that simply holding this summit with all the announced participants—including the presidents of South Africa, Uganda, Somalia, as well as the Rwandan and Congolese leaders—would already be "a diplomatic success."

While the participation details for Paul Kagame have been settled, confirming his presence in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, a source close to the Congolese presidency indicates that Félix Tshisekedi has yet to decide whether he will attend in person or join the meeting remotely.