President Paul Kagame on Saturday, February 4, arrived in Bujumbura, Burundi, to join other Heads of State of the East African Community who are meeting there to evaluate the security situation in eastern DR Congo, where the bloc deployed a joint force in November 2022.

The leaders will be hosted by President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is also the chair of the EAC. The 20th Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State comes at a time when the volatile security situation in North Kivu province, where government forces face M23 rebels, is sharply deteriorating.

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It follows an urgent meeting between EAC technical advisors and Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s former president and the facilitator of the EAC-led peace process for eastern DR Congo.

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The leaders will also discuss the way forward for the situation, the EAC secretariat tweeted on Friday.

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The Congolese government has been in the spotlight recently, due to its unilateral decision to deport three Rwandan military officers who were serving the regional force.

On February 1, the EAC secretary general Peter Mathuki wrote to the Congolese prime minister Christophe Lutundula, seeking clarification on the deportation of officers, who enjoyed immunity.

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Kinshasa also faces accusations of abandoning the Luanda agreement, which called for the disarmament of militias like the FDLR, among other things.

It is understood the M23 rebels are the only party that has begun implementing the Luanda agreement, with a gradual withdrawal.

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Tensions between DR Congo and Rwanda have also risen, following the violation of Rwandan airspace by a Congolese warplane, the third such incursion in three months.

By Alice Kagina, The New Times