AU ENvoys in Kigali: Kagame received mediators including Uhuru Kenyatta who spent several days in eastern DRC on a visit to discuss restoring peace in eastern DRC, as well as relations between the DRC and Rwanda.

AU ENvoys in Kigali: Kagame received mediators including Uhuru Kenyatta who spent several days in eastern DRC on a visit to discuss restoring peace in eastern DRC, as well as relations between the DRC and Rwanda.

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 As the African continent continues to search for a lasting solution to the more than three-year-old war that has gripped Eastern Congo, on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, President Paul Kagame received at Village Urugwiro a team of African Union (AU) mediators led by some of their former leaders.
 The Office of the Head of State, Village Urugwiro, announced that the delegation included prominent former Heads of State on the continent: Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of Kenya, Sahle-Work Zewde, former President of Ethiopia, Mokgweetsi Masisi, former President of Botswana, and Yackoley Kokou Johnson, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo representing Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, who chairs the AU Coordination Committee.
It explained that their discussions focused on the peace process led by the African Union (AU) and the ongoing progress made towards achieving lasting peace and security in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and addressing the root causes of the conflict.
 The AU-appointed mediators will travel to the Great Lakes Region to review progress in resolving conflicts and conflicts in eastern Congo. The visit follows talks they held with Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on October 6.
 On October 5, 2026, the delegation was in Goma where they held talks with the leadership of the AFC/M23 Alliance, which controls the city and is at war with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They met with Corneille Nangaa, Bertrand Bisimwa and other leaders of the alliance.
 In Goma, the delegation also held discussions with UN agencies including MONUSCO, OCHA, ICRC and the EJVM+ peacekeeping mission. The AU said that these discussions were an opportunity to hear from all parties on security and the refugee issue.
The AU Mediation Panel is made up of five former heads of state: Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Uhuru Kenyatta, Mokgweetsi Masisi, Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic, and Sahle-Work Zewde. Their mandate is to bridge two peace paths: the Washington path between Rwanda and the DRC, and the Doha path between the DRC government and the AFC/M23.
 It is expected that these delegates will also travel to other countries in the region to discuss with Heads of State how to continue supporting the peace process and negotiations to end the fighting in Eastern Congo through the signed agreements.
 The Washington Agreement signed on December 4, 2025 between Rwanda and the DRC stipulates that the Kinshasa-backed FDLR group must be completely eradicated, after which Rwanda will lift the border security measures it has put in place.
 The Doha Agreement signed in July 2025 between the DRC government and the AFC/M23 allowed for a permanent ceasefire and negotiations for reasons you know, but fighting continues to be seen in the Masisi areas of North Kivu and the mountains of South Kivu.
 The main cause of the conflict between Rwanda and the DRC - FDLR:
 Rwanda claims that the DRC supports and arms the FDLR, a group formed by survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The group has been operating in eastern Congo for over 30 years, carrying out attacks on Rwanda and spreading genocide ideology among the Tutsi of the Congolese people. Rwanda says that its security cannot be resolved until the FDLR is eliminated.The problem of the Tutsi of the Congolese people (Banyamulenge):
 The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23, while Rwanda says the M23 are Congolese who are fighting against discrimination against Congolese Tutsis in the DRC. Some Congolese Tutsis who fled genocide and persecution are accused by the Kinshasa government of being Rwandans.
 The eastern part of the DRC is rich in gold, coltan, cobalt and gas. Many countries and more than 120 armed groups operate in the region, fighting for control of these minerals. This makes lasting peace difficult because there are strong vested interests.