Ugandan and Rwandan presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame held talks that discussed the crisis in eastern DRC. DRC was recently admitted to the East Africa Community of which Rwanda and Uganda are members.
The two echoed that for the region to attain economic prosperity and improve the quality of life for all its citizens, problems affecting the region like the crisis in Congo need a collective approach from all regional members.
This was the first time the Rwandan President has visited Uganda since March 2018. There had been heightened tensions between the two countries since 2018 that saw Kigali close its common border with Uganda.
The DRC crisis has been heightened by the growing number of violent groups that have been conducting attacks on the civilian population. ISCAP, which is the Islamic State branch in DRC has been attracting international headlines through its increasing terror activities. The group has recruits from across the various members of EAC which in turn indirectly affects all member states and especially their security.
According to SI analysts, DRC has been used as training grounds for IS terrorists from the larger Great Lakes region drawing recruits from countries such Mozambique, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania which poses a threat across the board. Thus, the need for a regional response is direr than ever as it is paramount that the expansion of the militancy is stopped in order to restore normalcy and foster the prosperity of the recently expanded EAC.
