DRC President Félix Tshisekedi will not participate in the virtual summit of heads of state of the East African Community that was to take place on Wednesday.
The extra-ordinary summit was called at the initiative of President William Ruto in his capacity as the EAC chairman to discuss the developments in the eastern DRC, where M23 group marched and took over Goma.
“For scheduling reasons, the President will not participate in the virtual EAC summit,” Tina Salama, the spokesperson for President Tshisekedi told the ACP on Wednesday morning.
Earlier, Salama had cited security reasons.
“It is clear that, given the situation that prevails at the moment, the president will not be able to go to this summit,” Salama told Congolese media on Monday.
She also reaffirmed that, despite welcoming the EAC initiative, the DRC considers the ongoing Luanda process as its preferred diplomatic pathway.
While announcing the meeting on Monday, President Ruto had said both President Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame had confirmed participation in the meeting.
“After consulting the Heads of State of EAC Member States, we will convene an Extraordinary Summit in the next 48 hours to chart the way forward.
“The EAC stands ready to forge stronger collaboration with the African Union, Southern African Development Community and the international community in encouraging the warring parties to give priority to dialogue,” Ruto said.
While the Kenyan leader, who is currently on a State Visit in Egypt, sought to lead the mediatisation to the crisis, but Tshisekedi’s absence casts doubt on the summit’s potential outcomes.
