East Africa: Inside the Feisty SADC-EAC Summit On Congo Crisis

The EAC-SADC summit in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on Saturday was only a show of supposed unity and full of rosy speeches, but nothing hopeful to write home about, unless like they say, the walls saw more and decided not to share.

Coming off a proposal by President Museveni, the summit was called in earnest by EAC chairman William Ruto and confirmed by SADC chairman Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

President Museveni, being the most senior of all, better understands what is at hand, and save for Mnangagwa coming 14 hours earlier, given he was flying from afar, and Samia Suluhu who was in her living room by the time organisers were making final touches to the venue, he left Uganda in heavy rain at 6:30am and the Uganda Airlines bird was touching tarmac in the Tanzanian Capital an hour later.

Museveni was the most passionate regarding the summit, both through actions and words, for he is aware that “there is no other forum better suited to address this issue than this summit,” and he took the initiative to break his home leaving a record, as sources claim he has not left the country at anytime earlier than he did for this summit.

Arrivals and Breaking protocols

The glitches of the summit started breaking into the limelight from the arrivals. President Museveni and President Kagame must travel Siamese twins as they always land around the same time, and Saturday was no exception as the two landed at small intervals within each other.

Visibly, the Tanzania security looked overwhelmed already at the VIP side that they now resorted to letting people in depending on dress code, meaning one had to look like a delegate at access.

The principals were not given a holding room, it was a board off-run-off scenario to ensure the rest of the principals landed without event.

A standout protocol breach was in the sitting arrangement which saw President Museveni take to the right of the host (Suluhu) instead of the chairperson of the EAC, who in this case should have been Kenya’s William Ruto.

The logical explanation offered by informal bookmakers was that Museveni being a senior member amongst all that were present, automatically qualifies to take the front seat if any, and Ruto in this case should remain humbly holed up elsewhere.

On the other hand, Africa’s rich president Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa initially was a no-show and was being ably represented by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, only for him to send notice that he was airborne.

Ramaphosa’s arrival forced groups to return to the airport to receive him, yet back at the venue, the event was reaching its afternoon, and a closed-door session was in its dying embers, little wonder no one can account for his presence save for his arrival.

On the other side, Felix Tshisekedi, who was the anticipated camera target besides nemesis Kagame, provided a successful decoy, when his entire convoy showed up to pick up, not him, but a delegated official (Prime Minister Judith Suminwa) who was not announced until everyone was sat and ready.

Tshisekedi on his part later logged in from Kinshasa where he based to make scathing demands backed by a tough face – he wants Rwanda condemned and defenestrated.

Speeches and Demands

The speeches were allowed from the heads of the blocs, and the host, who called on her brothers to do something about DR Congo or else ” history will judge them harshly”.

Suluhu kept referring to Tanzania as the heaven of peace and called for dialogue from all sides to bring upon a lasting solution in DR Congo.

Ruto, the chairman of the EAC, was not far from the bus, and he hopped in, also calling for dialogue he accordingly believes it is not a show of weakness, but rather a strength.

“I am confident that you agree with me all, that dialogue is not a sign of weakness, it is a testament to our collective wisdom and strength, all sides must put aside their differences and mobilise for engagement in constructive dialogue,” President Ruto quipped.

Mnangagwa, on behalf of SADC, delivered a more animated speech, projecting his voice at every supposed point, and looking around the room for approval.

“The unity, solidarity, and unbreakable bond of the peoples of the continent must stand the test of such trying times we face ( DR Congo). We must comprehensively, frankly earn security for DR Congo,” he said.

Tshisekedi called upon member states to reject Kagame and Rwanda, asking them to unequivocally condemn his behaviour as well as pressurise Rwanda to disappear from DR Congo and anywhere inside it.

Hopelessness dominant

However, despite the brass and creme meeting in Dar-es-Salaam, it leaves a lot to desire about the outcomes of the meeting.

Initially, the AU chairman Mousa Faki had been asked to excuse himself as he was fringe to the requirements in the closed-door session.

Faki has been a permanent fixture at such meetings, but Tshisekedi found him quite dubious based on assumptions that he most likely enjoys a friendship with Kagame.

While Faki was himself gutted by the developments, others were equally gobsmacked by such a demand, nonetheless, he was booted.

Ramaphosa decided he would handle his own agenda, leaving Johannesburg several hours after the meeting sat in Tanzania and requiring at least four hours to find the leftovers of the meeting still hot.

He arrived and only needed to head back because his arrival was as unimportant as his presence.

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The meeting ended without ceremony, as most heads of state dashed out quickly, leaving the communique behind for the work of whoever wished to relay it to the media, it almost suddenly looked like the men and two women who had locked themselves in a room, came out much to their own relief of whatever transpired there.

The good part is that all the contents of the meeting are mostly enclosed, not in the communique, but in the undertones of the words of President Paul Kagame, where he states;

“DRC cannot just tell us to keep quiet when they are mounting a security problem against our country. Nobody can tell us to shut up.

We have been begging DRC and its leaders for a long time, we have shared our issues and asked DRC to address them, and they have refused.

Let us not just have another meeting like the many we have had.

We can’t go on forever massaging problems. What is happening there is an ethnic war that has been brewing for a long time, denying people’s rights and then attacking Rwanda.

You must recognize people’s rights and take a step and resolve the issue.

This war was started by DRC and not anything from Rwanda. It was just brought and put on our shoulders and we were told to own it. We can’t own it. There is no question about it.

Let us use this meeting in a manner that will put into account all these matters seriously, and find a lasting solution.”

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