President William Ruto (left) greets President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinshasa on November 21, 2022.
President William Ruto must be wondering what purpose it serves being chair of a toothless bulldog. He called an emergency Summit of the East African Community Heads of State to deliberate on the Congo crisis, but achieved absolutely nothing.
Other than expressing regret over escalation of the conflict with the fall of the eastern town of Goma to Rwandese-backed M23 rebels, sending condolences to the affected families and calling for a cessation of hostilities, the Summit did nothing that would call the belligerents to order.
Notably, the virtual meeting was snubbed by Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, who refuses to share a table with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose troops are actively supporting rebels in the mineral-rich eastern region of his country. His absence was also a vote of no confidence in the EAC.
So what purpose does the EAC serve on regional security issues?
Kenyan troops were part of the East African Community Regional Force to Eastern DRC in 2022, an ill-fated mission that was forced to withdraw after less than one year over various difficulties, including an unclear mandate where no one was sure whether it was a peacekeeping force or a combat operation.
President Tshisekedi wanted the regional force to aid his army in quelling the rebellion. President Kagame and his M23 vassals saw the East African troops as threats to their activities in eastern DRC.
Withdrawal of the East African mission left intervention efforts to SAMIDRC, a military force dispatched by the Southern African Development Community; and the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
Supporting humanitarian efforts
Kenya last year sent contingents of the Kenya Defense Forces Quick Reaction Force (KENQRF) to join the UN mission in eastern Congo, tasked with operations against armed groups, protecting civilians, supporting humanitarian efforts and aiding in the disarmament of combatants.
The fall of Goma after a lightning offensive exposed the weakness of both the UN forces and the South African-led SADF mission. Yet the communique following the EAC Heads of State pow-wow called for a joint EAC- SADC Summit to chart the way forward on the DRC crisis, an indication that the Community knows it cannot do much on its own.
Response to events in the Congo and other flashpoints involving member-states such as Burundi, South Sudan and Somalia offer stark testimony of just how useless the EAC is in resolving troubles within the region.
While the EAC Treaty does give the regional bloc a peace and security mandate, the guiding principle adopted by the Heads of State seems to be the retrogressive ‘non-interference in internal affairs’ which allows all kind of atrocities without any intervention.
Since it was revived in the year 2000 by the original members, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, after having collapsed in 1977, the EAC has grown by leaps and bounds.
Rwanda and Burundi became members in 2007, South Sudan in 2016, DRC in 2022 and Somalia in 2023.
This might seem like impressive growth, for any regional organisation, but it has come at expense of the glue the holds the Community together, including the founding principles and the regional peace and security component.
Peaceful settlement of disputes
For instance, admission of countries such as Somalia and South Sudan violate a core principle in the EAC Treaty which demands that member-states adhere to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice.
It is also an objective of the Community to promote peace, security, and stability within member states, and good neighbourliness between the partners.
Fundamental principles of the Community include peaceful settlement of disputes, good governance, respect for the principles of democracy, rule of law, accountability, transparency, social justice; as well as the recognition, promotion and protection of human and peoples rights.
It is evident, however, that the East African Community does not have specific instruments to ensure that its own objectives and principles around peace and security, as well as democracy and human rights are fully realised.
Instead of offering a forceful demand for a ceasefire and roadmap towards resolution of the DRC crisis, the Heads of State Summit only came out with a pitiful whimper.
President Ruto might as well not have bothered to interrupt his busy schedule with such a useless meeting.
If it is to live up to its mandate, the EAC must become more forceful. It must build the military capacity to intervene in conflicts within the region, and also start to impose sanctions on leaders, and countries, that flout the founding principles.
