Rwanda, DRC leaders to join emergency summit on Saturday- Kenya presidency

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame will attend a joint summit this weekend to discuss the crisis in the eastern DR Congo, Kenya’s presidency said Monday.

Tshisekedi and Kagame have both been no-shows at previous talks attempting to broker peace between the two sides.

The two-day joint summit of the East African Community and Southern African Development Community will begin in Tanzania on Friday with ministerial meetings.

The presidents will then convene on Saturday along with several regional leaders, according to a statement from the office of Kenyan President William Ruto.

“A joint summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East Africa Community (EAC) will be held on Friday and Saturday on the conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,” the statement said.

“This follows an agreement between the Chairman of SADC President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe and EAC Chairperson President William Ruto of Kenya.”

Both the Rwandan and Congolese presidents “have confirmed attendance of the meeting that will be preceded by a ministerial meeting on Friday before the Heads of State convene on Saturday,” the statement added.

As well as Tshisekedi and Kagame, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia have also confirmed their attendance.

The summit will be hosted by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.