On October 30, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni hosted a private meeting with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi at State House in Entebbe.
The Congolese leader arrived with a delegation of ministers and senior officials. According to reports, the two leaders discussed mutual interests, regional stability, and their commitment to regional peace and security.
Since November 2021, Ugandan and Congolese troops have conducted joint operations against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militia linked to the Islamic State group, which operates in eastern DRC. Museveni posted on X, highlighting that their conversation focused on security matters, regional peace, and infrastructure development aimed at economic growth.
In a post on X, the Congolese Presidency confirmed that Tshisekedi and Museveni held a closed-door session centered on addressing the security crisis in eastern DRC. Their discussion comes two weeks after top military officials from both nations met in Kinshasa to assess their joint anti-ADF operations in North Kivu and Ituri.
Earlier this year, Tshisekedi sent a special envoy to Museveni, relaying a message about the importance of regional peace and security. Meanwhile, tensions have risen between Rwanda and the DRC over the integration of the FDLR, a militia implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, into the Congolese armed forces. Rwanda views this as a direct security threat, and recent efforts to disarm the FDLR have stalled due to a lack of agreement between Congolese and regional leaders.
In addition to combating the ADF, the DRC army (FARDC) has been engaged in combat against M23 rebels in North Kivu. FARDC’s coalition has expanded to include support from Burundi, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and local militia groups. Rwanda recently reiterated that the DRC must take accountability for the ongoing crisis to restore diplomatic relations and achieve lasting peace.