East African Community Heads of State have today, 4th February 2023, convened in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, for the 20th Extra-Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State.
The main purpose of the meeting is to evaluate the current situation in Eastern DRC with a view of coming up with decisions that will ameliorate the security situation & facilitate the restoration of peace and security in Eastern DRC.
In attendance, are their Excellencies; Evaliste Ndayishimiye of Burundi the host country, Gen. Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, Dr. William Samoei Ruto of Kenya and Hon.Deng Kuol- EA Affairs Minister, South Sudan, representing H.E. Salva Kiir who is currently hosting the Pope.
While on a holy visit to DR Congo early this week, Pope Francis during a speech to politicians and dignitaries in Kinshasa’s presidential palace on Tuesday, also denounced the “economic colonialism” he suggested had wreaked lasting damage in the DRC.
“This country, massively plundered, has not benefitted adequately from its immense resources, Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa, it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered,” he said, to applause.
Despite abundant mineral reserves, the DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world. About two-thirds of Congolese people live on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank.
The DRC’s turbulent east has long been plagued by dozens of armed groups. Since late 2021, M23 rebels have also captured swaths of territory in the eastern North Kivu province, coming close to its capital Goma.
On Tuesday, the Pope met President Félix Tshisekedi and delivered a speech condemning historical exploitation of Africa’s resources, which he described as “economic colonialism”
Details coming in.
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