Rwanda is concerned that Uganda is unnecessarily delaying scheduling a special session of the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee, the executive organ of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, to look into the latest conflict in eastern Congo.

The delay is, in effect, slowing diplomatic efforts by both DR Congo and Rwanda to solve the problem peacefully.

Uganda currently holds the chair of the ICGLR, whose membership comprises 11 countries, six of which — Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda — have been militarily involved in DR Congo conflicts before.

The Conference was specially empowered by its Heads of State at their 4th Ordinary Summit in December 2011, to take a lead role in resolving conflicts in the region.

The EastAfrican has seen a letter dated June 25 signed by Prof Ntumba Luaba, the executive secretary of the ICGLR, to Henry Okello Oryem, Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of International Affairs, reminding him of the urgency of the meeting, delaying which has the direct effect of escalating tensions in eastern Congo.

Prof Luaba visited Kampala on June 14, on the back of visits from Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and before him DR Congo Foreign Affairs Minister Rymond Tshibonda, who initially requested the meeting, to liaise with Uganda’s foreign minister.

The special meeting of foreign ministers is aimed at reviewing the conflict that Congolese renegade General Bosco Ntaganda has sparked with his M23 rebel force. It is also intended to tackle DR Congo’s allegations that Rwanda is backing Ntaganda in order to prepare talking points for a meeting of Heads of State of Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo expected to take place on the sidelines of the AU Summit taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from July 9.

Mr Okello Oryem is reportedly out of the country on assignment but last week he lamented before parliament that his ministry lacked money to fulfil all its functions. It is understood this is the reason the meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet.

But James Mugume, Permanent Secretary at Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The EastAfrican that Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa was consulting with his colleagues and would communicate a date soon.

Armed conflict broke out in the North Kivu area in eastern Congo in April following Gen Ntaganda’s breaking away from President Joseph Kabila’s government.

According to him, the government had failed to uphold the terms of a comprehensive integration process agreed to three years ago. The Kabila government has insisted, however, that he is simply running away from The Hague-based International Criminal Court, which has issued a warrant for his arrest and demanded his extradition.

Humanitarian agencies working in this area claim as many as 200,000 people have since been displaced, with many crossing into Rwanda and Uganda.

Rwanda has been fending off accusations initiated by the UN Group of Experts, in an interim report leaked to various Western media outlets, that Rwanda not only encouraged Ntaganda to mutiny but has constantly supported him with military logistics, recruitment and training.

This is the second time a UN interim report about Rwanda has been leaked to the media.

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo was in New York and Washington at the beginning of last week, said, “It is demonstrably against Rwanda’s interests to do anything that would risk destabilising the region. We have worked vigorously with our Congolese counterparts to try to head off the rebellion.

“When violence broke out, we counselled the Congolese, Monusco [United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo] and non-state actors to tread carefully. They failed to listen. Instead, as the Congolese Army proved unable to contain the mutiny, Kinshasa and its allies resorted to pointing the finger at Rwanda.”

She added that it was “deeply regrettable” that the UN had been stampeded by the “media frenzy” over Rwanda’s alleged involvement in the DR Congo to hastily publish the interim report “without giving the government the opportunity to analyse its contents and respond in a systematic fashion.”

According to an official statement from her ministry, the UN Group of Experts has accepted an invitation to Kigali to consult with the government, consider Rwanda’s submissions, as well as its own allegations, in the hope that all will be reflected in the final report due in November.

While all this happens, Rwanda will surely be displeased that the UN Security Council agreed on Wednesday to renew Monusco’s mandate for one year even as it demanded an immediate stop to “all outside support to all armed groups,” a note generally believed to be aimed at Rwanda, although it wasn’t mentioned specifically.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, while speaking to reporters in Kigali on June 19, said if the UN mission hadn’t failed in its primary mission to deal with the genocidaires, for which it was mainly deployed, eastern Congo would look different today.

“I don’t see anything I would pay for, even one dollar, and they are paid $1.2 billion every year for doing nothing and they turn around and ask Rwanda to deal with the problem,” President Kagame said.