President William Ruto on Friday night February 7, 2025, jetted off to Tanzania to attend the joint East African Community (EAC)-Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on the eastern Congo conflict.
Presidential Advisor on Great Lakes Region Affairs Charles Keter received Ruto upon his touchdown in Dar es Salaam.
“Received H.E the President Dr. William Samoei Ruto upon his arrival in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for the Extraordinary SADC-EAC Summit. This crucial meeting brings together regional leaders in a collective effort to restore peace and stability in Eastern DRC,” Keter wrote on his X account.
Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation on Saturday morning announced the arrival of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Prime Minister Judith Suminwa.
The Ministry said the DR Congo Prime Minister arrived in Dar at dawn.
“Balozi wa Tanzania katika Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo (DRC), Mhe. Said Mshana amempokea Waziri Mkuu wa DRC, Mhe. Judith Suminwa aliyewasili nchini Tanzania alfajiri ya Februari 8, 2025 kushiriki Mkutano wa Dharura wa Pamoja Wakuu wa Nchi na Serikali wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki (EAC) na Jumuiya ya Maendeleo Kusini mwa Afrika (SADC) utakaofanyika hapo baadaye.
“Jumuiya zote mbili zinakutana kujadili kwa lengo la kupatia ufumbuzi hali ya ulinzi na usalama katika Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo,” the ministry said.
It appears PM Judith Suminwa would be representing President Felix Tshisekedi who was expected to attend the summit in person alongside his rival President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
President Felix Tshisekedi was also no show during the virtual Extra-Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State convened on January 29, 2025, to address the escalating crisis caused by the M23 rebel attacks in Goma.
The virtual summit was chaired by President William Ruto, who is currently serving as the EAC chair.
Rwanda’s Kagame attended the virtual meeting even as Tshisekedi gave it a wide berth.
Tshisekedi and Kagame were also expected to meet in December 2024 in Angola to sign a peace agreement but the meeting was cancelled. Both parties blamed each other for failed talks as tensions escalated.
DR Congo is accusing Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels who have captured large swaths of land in the country’s mineral-rich eastern side including the key town of Goma.
The rebels on Wednesday took another mining town in the South Kivu province in a push towards the provincial capital Bukavu, violating a unilateral ceasefire they had declared themselves.
Reports of rebel advance towards Bukavu on Thursday sparked panic in several towns and villages.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Wednesday estimated that at least 2,800 people died in Goma.
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