President William Ruto took a bold step to address the escalating conflict and deteriorating situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ruto appealed to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame to heed the call for peace from the people of EAC and the international community.

The Summit is a follow-up of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika plus the DRC and Troop Contributing Countries to the SADC Mission in the DRC, which was held on Tuesday, chaired by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

In April 2022, EAC leaders met in Nairobi, Kenya, and agreed to establish a regional force to be deployed in eastern DRC to facilitate dialogue between the warring parties. While the DRC government and the rebels agreed to a ceasefire, tensions persisted.

East African Community leaders have urged DRC President Félix Tshisekedi to engage with M23 rebels to de-escalate the conflict.

According to a communiqué from the 24th Extraordinary Summit, called by President William Ruto, seven heads of State were present, including Paul Kagame of Rwanda, but Felix Tshisekedi was not. “The summit called on all parties to the conflict in Eastern DRC to cease hostilities and observe immediate and unconditional ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian access to the affected population,

Speaking to BBC Newshour while being locked down in a UN bunker in the city, the deputy head of the UN force, Vivian van de Perre, said the M23 rebels had "established" themselves in Goma, but were still facing "pockets of resistance".

The war for Goma was the most recent episode of combat in eastern DRC, a volatile region plagued by regional rivalries, ethnic tensions, and armed group battles for more than three decades

DR Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi said on Thursday that his troops were mounting a military response as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters advanced in the east of the country .

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma.

As an East African bloc urged an immediate ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized the city of Goma extended their advance on Wednesday, and Congo said it planned a campaign to recover lost territory.

Insults are flying on both sides of the border, with diplomatic language tossed aside. Addressing ambassadors on 16 January, Paul Kagame did not mince his words. “I know leaders when I see them, and I also know idiots when I see them,” he said. “You can [imagine] the combination of both of them, the disaster it is.”