At the EAC summit in Nairobi in February 2014, the two leaders had a brief encounter, considered by observers as the first sign that relations where getting back to normal
Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame arrived in Tanzania on Thursday morning for a regional conference – ending more than two years of absence in the country which hosts headquarters of the East African Community (EAC).
Kagame was last in Tanzania in April 2012 for the regional leaders’ summit at the EAC headquarters. Then in June 2013, relations collapsed after Tanzania’s President JakayaKikwete ignored a two-decade international campaign against Rwandan FDLR rebels responsible for the 1994 genocide against Tutsis.
Speaking at a closed-door African Union summit in Ethiopia, Kikwete said the Rwandan government needed to negotiate with the genocidal forces holed up in DR Congo forests. Relations collapsed completely following the comments.
Weeks later, a Tanzanian government statement described the FDLR as “freedom fighters”. In the months which followed, News of Rwanda uncovered evidence of FDLR commanders and political leaders hosted in Tanzania.
Fast-forward, as the January deadline for the rebels to disarm of face military offensive approached, Tanzania’s foreign minister Bernard Membe said Tanzanian troops in DR Congo would not take part in the operations. However, days later, President Kikwete quickly responded that Tanzania would fight the rebels.
According to unconfirmed reports, President Kikwete has since the breakdown of relations trying to mend fences, but was shunned by Kigali. President Kagame even skipped the EAC summit of April last year in Arusha. The following Summits had to either be cancelled or moved to other regional partners.
For 2015, the rotational leadership of the regional bloc went to Tanzania at the summit in Nairobi – Kenya in February. Then early in March, President Kikwete was in Kigali – Rwanda, for the northern corridor summit of Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.
Today March 26, President Kagame arrived in Dar es Salaam where he addressed the Central Corridor High Level Industry and Investor Forum.
It was also expected that there would be some behind the scenes talks on Burundi, as President Pierre Nkurunziza was also in town for the Forum.