Rwanda Withdraws from ECCAS Over Disputed Leadersh...

Rwanda Withdraws from ECCAS Over Disputed Leadership and Alleged Bias

Oscar J Jeke - Zim Now Reporter

Rwanda has officially withdrawn from the Economic Community of Central African States, citing the organization’s failure to uphold its foundational principles and accusing the Democratic Republic of Congo of manipulating ECCAS with the support of some member states.

In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rwanda condemned what it called the “instrumentalization” of ECCAS. The Rwandan government said its right to assume the bloc’s rotating chairmanship stipulated under Article 6 of the ECCAS Treaty was deliberately ignored during the 26th Ordinary Summit held on Friday in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

Kigali linked the latest incident to a broader pattern, pointing to Rwanda’s exclusion from the 22nd ECCAS Summit in Kinshasa in 2023, also under the DRC's leadership. The government said it had already raised concerns in a letter to the African Union, labeling the exclusion as illegal and politically motivated.

“The silence and inaction that followed confirm the organization’s failure to enforce its own rules,” the statement read.

Rwanda accused ECCAS of violating its rights as enshrined in the community’s constitutive texts and stated it could no longer justify participation in an institution that operates contrary to its founding mission, deepening existing tensions between Rwanda and the DRC, which have faced off in multiple disputes across regional and international platforms.