Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were yesterday expected to sign a peace deal. It promises an end to hostilities, respect for borders and a separation of armed groups.
But here’s the catch: It’s being brokered by the United States and observed by Qatar. Not by the African Union (AU). Not by the East African Community (EAC). Not by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Once again, it is outsiders who are leading in solving African problems, while our own institutions look away.
It’s embarrassing, honestly. The EAC includes both Rwanda and DR Congo as member states. If there’s any body that should be driving these peace talks, it’s this one. The fire is burning – millions displaced, lives lost, economies under threat. But instead of taking responsibility, the Community has gone quiet. Not a word. Not a plan. Just silence.
And that silence speaks volumes. This isn’t the first peace attempt between these two countries. We’ve seen the Luanda Process, the Nairobi talks and most recently, Togo tried to mediate. All have either failed or fizzled out. Now the US has jumped in—not because it’s their backyard, but because someone has to do something. That someone should have been the EAC.
The regional organisation has frameworks on paper—peacekeeping forces, conflict resolution strategies and so on. But what’s the use of tools if no one picks them up? This kind of diplomatic absenteeism doesn’t just weaken the EAC – it makes a mockery of the idea that Africans can solve their own problems.
When African leaders leave peace talks to foreigners, they surrender more than just negotiations. They hand over the steering wheel of their own future.
“It’s embarrassing, honestly. The EAC includes both Rwanda and DR Congo as member states. If there’s any body that should be driving these peace talks, it’s this one.”
They give away influence and the moral authority that led their people through crises.
It’s a quiet kind of betrayal. One that doesn’t make headlines but does much deeper. Because the people who suffer most are the displaced mothers, the children growing up at refugee camps and the young men caught between rebel groups and hopelessness.
All these are left wondering who, if anyone, is truly fighting for them. When leaders stay silent, it feels more like an abandonment.
The EAC needs to wake up. Peace isn’t something we can outsource. If it holds so many member trade deals and press releases, it must lead from the front. Otherwise, we’re not really a Community but a collection of countries pretending to be one.
Isaac Mwangi writes on social, political and economic issues in East Africa. E-mail: isaacmwmangi@gmail.com
