Ruto joins African leaders in united push for peace in eastern DRC
By Kenneth Mwenda, August 14, 2025President William Ruto, on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, co-chaired a high-level virtual meeting of African leaders aimed at accelerating peace efforts in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The meeting, co-chaired by President Ruto and Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, brought together leaders from across the continent, including DRC’s Félix Tshisekedi, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema, and representatives from Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, South Sudan, and Somalia.
‘The Joint Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) convened an Extraordinary Meeting virtually on 13th August 2025 in a warm and cordial atmosphere to report progress on the mandate assigned to the Co-Chairs on the security situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),” the press release read.
“In a show of unified resolve, the summit endorsed the following enabling documents outlining the mandate of the facilitators: (a) Framework for the Merger of the Nairobi and Luanda Processes; (b) Terms of Reference for the Five-Member Panel of Facilitators…; (c) Process Design for an Inclusive Mediation Process in eastern DRC; (d) Proposed Structure of the Independent Secretariat…; and (e) The Resource Mobilisation Framework for Supporting the Joint Initiative.”
Leaders chart unified path
Key resolutions included the immediate merger of the EAC-SADC and AU structures to report to the joint EAC-SADC Summit and the AU and the creation of a joint secretariat, led by the AUC in Addis Ababa, to operationalise the joint structure.
The leaders also welcomed the ongoing initiatives of the Washington Accord 2025 and Doha Declaration of Principles of 2025 and called for complementarity with the African-led process.
The communiqué further called for the immediate mobilisation of resources, including for humanitarian support, to be centralised and coordinated by the AUC and mandated the co-chairs to oversee the implementation of the decisions of the Joint EAC-SADC Summits.
“The Joint Extraordinary Summit commended… the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and… the President of the Republic of Rwanda for embracing the route of dialogue to address the conflict in eastern DRC,” the statement noted, commending progress in dialogue.
They also expressed gratitude to the Chairpersons of the EAC and SADC for steering the process and for their leadership in attaining lasting peace and security in eastern DRC.”