Why Congo-Rwanda peace bid has flopped

But Rwanda pulled the plug, saying President Paul Kagame would not attend the tripartite summit because the DRC had not guaranteed direct talks with the M23 rebel group, the main source of trouble in its restive eastern Congo.

Angola cancelled the talks, admitting that there had been a trust deficit between the parties. 

In Kinshasa, the M23 leadership is considered a terrorist group and was sentenced to death in absentia earlier this year. 

In Kigali, the M23 is an important security problem whose solution, Rwanda believes, can end the war in eastern DRC and safeguard the welfare of the Tutsi in the Congo.

President Lourenço, the African Union-appointed mediator for the conflict in the eastern DRC, had hosted Tshisekedi and Kenyatta, the facilitator on behalf of the East African Community.

Read: Renewed fighting in DRC angers Angola

In a statement, Angola said a tripartite summit between the DRC and Rwanda, mediated by Angola, that had been announced for Sunday, December 15, was postponed “sine die” at the request of “one of the parties.”

The Congolese presidency blamed the Rwandan delegation for refusing to take part in the talks aimed at making an assessment of the peace process in the eastern DRC, and define the steps to be taken, pending the conclusion of the peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda.

Read: DRC, Rwanda agree – again – to end hostilities

No consensus

But, before that, diplomats tried to reach a common ground, as foreign affairs ministers of Angola, DRC and Rwanda met on Saturday in Luanda for the 7th Ministerial Meeting on the situation in the east of the DRC.

Angolan Foreign Affairs minister Téte António called on the parties to comply with the agreement signed in August.

Rwanda said that the Saturday meeting didn’t bear any fruit: no consensus was reached on commitment to direct talks with the Congolese rebel group M23.

This presidents summit would, therefore, not have resulted in an agreement, amid continued threats by Kinshasa officials, including the President, to advocate regime change in Rwanda, as well as the wider coalition of forces deployed in eastern DRC alongside government forces, including European mercenaries, the Burundian military, Wazalendo militia and the FDLR. 

Kinshasa has accused Kigali of fuelling the M23 rebellion, and Rwanda has accused DRC of supporting FDLR, remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. Both sides have denied the charges.

The UN Special Representative for the DRC while briefing the Security Council on recent developments, including political disagreements over constitutional reforms and escalating insecurity in the east, highlighted mediation efforts led by Angola, known as the Luanda Process.

Bintou Keita, who also heads the UN mission, Monusco, reported on the instability in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, particularly operations by four armed groups: ADF, M23, Codeco and Zaïre.

Read: Codeco militia adds to Congo’s peace bid woes

The M23, who did not sign the ceasefire agreement, have shored up its civil and military occupation in North Kivu and controls swaths of territory, twice the size of the area it controlled in 2012.

“The ADF remains the deadliest armed group, having murdered hundreds of civilians in recent months,” she said. 

Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs minister, in social media posts, backed his country’s position.

“Rwanda is surprised by the statement made by the President of the DRC, endorsing conspiracy theories like the ‘great replacement’ of the far right in Europe, which is dangerous and fuels xenophobia against Congolese Tutsi in Eastern DRC,” Mr Nduhungirehe on X.