Open Letter
To the Esteemed Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
Joint Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on February 7, 2025
February 5, 2025
Subject: A Moral Imperative and Strategic Necessity to Stop Rwanda's War in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Your Excellencies,
How did the already beleaguered city of Goma fall once again to the forces of Rwanda and its proxy, the M23 militia? How did a well-endowed international community, formidable regional bodies, and a nation as vast as the DRC allow its sovereignty to be trampled? The answers are clear: General Kagame's impunity, long sustained by Western powers, calculated military maneuvers, and deceptive tactics have exploited your collective failure to marshal your combined economic and military power, forceful diplomacy, strategic vision, and united action. Practical statesmen do not cower in moments of crisis—they rise to learn, lead, and secure a better future. Now, it is that moment.
Victory in war demands a fusion of political will, agile strategy, and decisive timing. Just as warfare is an extension of political objectives, forceful diplomacy is the art of resolving conflict through deliberate, resolute action. Rwanda has mastered the exploitation of your vulnerabilities—using deception, timing, and resource plundering to its advantage. As you prepare to meet, General Kagame unashamedly says he does not know if his military is in DRC. This follows another deceptive so-called unilateral ceasefire by his militia, M23, and the lie that they have no intention of capturing Bukavu in South Kivu. Since 1990, General Kagame has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not believe in negotiations, peace agreements, and ceasefires, except as temporary tactics to regroup and strike his adversaries. Yet, history shows that when a nation is mobilized and organized, and regional unity is harnessed, it can stop and reverse aggression and restore peace. With the considerable military, political, and economic clout of the EAC and SADC command, decisive action can and must be taken.
For decades, the EAC and SADC have symbolized African peoples' yearning for regional solidarity, economic integration, and collective security. Our founding treaties and the African Union's Constitutive Act bind nations to stand against aggression, destabilization, and violations of human dignity. Rwanda's invasion of the DRC—conducted through the M23 rebel group—is a flagrant violation of these sacred principles. The human cost is staggering: millions dead, communities decimated, millions displaced, and precious resources looted. Every day without action further erodes our values and emboldens General Kagame's belligerence.
The EAC and SADC have populations exceeding 600 million and a combined GDP of over $1 trillion. If channeled wisely and effectively, this power is a formidable force for peace and justice. We have witnessed how coordinated regional pressure compelled Rwanda to withdraw from Goma in 2012. History is calling you to act again—this time, to secure lasting peace and justice.
Rwanda's aggression is not merely a territorial dispute but an insidious campaign of economic plunder and political manipulation. Under General Kagame's authoritarian regime, which thrives on political repression and the exploitation of the DRC's mineral wealth, external conflict has become a tool to suppress internal dissent. This national oppression, coupled with transnational repression—marked by the targeting of exiles and opposition figures—underscores the dangerous extent of Kagame's ambitions.
Documented by the United Nations Group of Experts and numerous human rights organizations, Rwanda's systematic looting of resources like coltan, gold, and diamonds fuels not only the conflict in the DRC but also fortifies a dictatorship at home. Without intervention, this cycle of violence and exploitation will continue, with consequences that include escalation to inter-state and regional war, a massive loss of lives, unparalleled human displacement and refugees, regional instability, erosion of Africa's credibility, and economic stagnation.
Recommendations for Immediate and Sustained Action
- Issue an Unambiguous Ultimatum: Demand that Rwanda immediately cease all support to M23 and withdraw its forces from the DRC. Non-compliance must trigger escalated regional action.
- Enforce Economic and Diplomatic Sanctions: Suspend Rwanda's access to regional trade agreements and impose targeted sanctions on those profiting from the conflict. Let your united disapproval be felt.
- Suspend Rwanda from Key International Bodies: Collaborate with continental and international partners to suspend Rwanda's membership in the African Union and the Commonwealth of Nations membership until it honors international norms.
- Deploy a Joint EAC-SADC Military Force: Create a robust rapid-response unit tasked with protecting civilians, monitoring borders, and ensuring Rwanda's withdrawal. This force must be empowered and adequately resourced.
- Support an International Arms Embargo: Work with the African Union and the United Nations to enforce a comprehensive arms embargo on Rwanda, curbing its military capabilities.
- Promote Regional Dialogue: Initiate inclusive dialogue with the DRC, Rwanda, and neighboring states to address security, governance, and resource-sharing challenges.
- Ensure Accountability: Advocate for implementing the 2010 UN Mapping Report before the UN Security Council to hold Kagame and his associates accountable for human rights violations in Rwanda and DRC.
- Address Rwanda's Internal Repression: Pursue diplomatic initiatives that confront Rwanda's external aggression and internal suppression, recognizing that lasting peace cannot be achieved while dictatorship persists.
General Kagame's ambitions of territorial conquest of DRC's Kivu region to build a Greater Rwanda and economic exploitation threaten the region and the entire African continent. His persistent denials and deceptions have emboldened him—until now.
The collective resolve of the EAC and SADC must end this impunity. The credibility of African leadership rests on our willingness to protect our people and uphold our shared values.
Half-measures are no longer an option. A united, determined effort is essential to force Rwanda to retreat and restore lasting peace. By mobilizing our people, harnessing combined EAC-SADC diplomatic clout, and leveraging economic power, military strength, and moral authority, you can send a resounding message: aggression will not be tolerated, and those who seek to destabilize the region and Africa, in general, will face decisive consequences.
History will judge your decisiveness and resolve. Those among you who consider themselves Pan-Africanists are the custodians of a vision for a united, peaceful, and prosperous Africa. As the late President of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, once declared, "Unity will not make us rich, but it can make it difficult for Africa and the African peoples to be disregarded and humiliated."
As you meet to deliberate on the plight of the suffering Congolese people and, indeed, the existential threat posed by Rwanda to DRC's sovereignty and territorial integrity, ensure that future generations remember Dar es Salaam as the place where Africa united, drew a line in the sand, and said, "No more."
You have the power. You have the right cause. Now, you must act.
With utmost respect and unwavering resolve,
Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa*
Co-founder, Rwanda Truth Commission and Rwanda Freedom Movement-ISHAKWE
Washington, D.C.,
USA
Contact: Ngombwa@gmail.com
*Former Secretary General, Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), Ambassador of Rwanda to the United States, and Chief of Staff to President Kagame
