ECCAS withdrawal: Nduhungirehe claims DR Congo manipulated the bloc

Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has denounced DR Congo’s persistent targeting of Rwanda in regional and international fora despite continuing peace talks between the two nations.

DR Congo’s persistent accusations against Rwanda in numerous regional and international organizations are “unbelievable and unacceptable,” according to Nduhungirehe’s post on X on Sunday morning, just hours after the foreign ministry declared Rwanda’s exit from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). 

Rwanda denounced “distortion of the organization’s purpose” and “the instrumentalization” of the ECCAS by DR Congo, with the backing of other members, in the statement announcing the withdrawal.

According to Nduhungirehe, Kinshasa did not support the gathering of President Tshisekedi and President Kagame in Doha, Qatar, on March 18, the signing of a Declaration of Principles in Washington on April 25, or the two governments’ participation in “promising US-facilitated negotiations for a historic peace agreement.”

According to Nduhungirehe, “DR Congo is still complaining in all regional and international organizations, accusing Rwanda of its own turpitudes, not to mention begging for sanctions.”

Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente attended the ECCAS Ordinary Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Saturday, where Rwanda declared its intention to withdraw.

As stipulated in Article 6 of the ECCAS Treaty, Rwanda’s authority to take over as rotating president was “deliberately ignored in order to impose [DR Congo’s] diktat,” according to the ministry.

Despite cautioning against Kinshasa’s “reckless” attempts to politicize regional organizations, Nduhungirehe reiterated Rwanda’s commitment to ongoing peace measures under multiple international frameworks.

The East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), two other regional blocs, are already addressing the issue through the African Union-mandated facilitator, President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, Nduhungirehe added, casting doubt on ECCAS’s role in the eastern DR Congo crisis.

“With good intentions and a sense of responsibility, Rwanda is participating in all current peace processes (AU/EAC-SADC, Washington, and Doha),” he stated.

“[Rwanda] will never accept the misuse of regional economic communities like ECCAS by a reckless and hopeless DR Congo, which is regrettably going against its original intent and guiding principles.”

Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome & Principe are the ten nations that make up the regional bloc that was formed in 1983 when Rwanda withdrew.