Rwanda has announced its withdrawal from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), citing a fundamental departure from the organization’s founding principles.
The Rwandan government deplores what it describes as the instrumentalization of ECCAS by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), allegedly with the backing of certain Member States.
This manipulation, Rwanda asserts, was once again evident during the 26th Ordinary Summit held on Saturday in Malabo.
Despite provisions in Article 6 of the ECCAS Treaty stipulating Rwanda’s right to assume the rotating Chairmanship, the Summit deliberately disregarded this right in what Kigali describes as an effort to impose the DRC’s political agenda.
Rwanda had previously raised concerns over its illegal exclusion from the 22nd Summit held in Kinshasa in 2023, under the presidency of the DRC.
A formal complaint was addressed to the Chairperson of the African Union, but the lack of response or corrective action, according to Rwanda, only confirmed the organization’s failure to uphold its own rules.
In light of these developments, Rwanda denounces the violation of its rights as enshrined in ECCAS’s constitutive texts.
Consequently, it sees no justification for remaining in a regional body whose current practices contradict both its foundational principles and stated objectives.
