DR Congo, Rwanda clash over leadership as Francophone summit opens

Résumé détaillé

A summit of French-speaking nations has opened amid a clash between DR Congo and Rwanda over the organisation’s leadership, with DR Congo threatening to qu Read More:…

A summit of French-speaking nations opened Sunday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, with leaders including France’s President Emmanuel Macron seeking to avoid a walkout by the group’s biggest African member.

The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a post-colonial entity resembling the Commonwealth, gathers around 90 states and nations including 53 full members, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Canada.

But the two-day talks are being overshadowed by tensions between two men, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, and a row over the organisation’s new head.

Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo has led the OIF for eight years and is running for a third term, but the DR Congo is strongly opposed — and has threatened to quit the organisation if she is re-elected on Monday.

Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group’s activities inside DR Congo, which Kigali denies.

Last year Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso withdrew from the OIF after successive coups that saw Paris-friendly governments replaced by pro-Russian juntas.

The departure of DR Congo — the second most Francophone country after France with 57.3 million speakers, according to the OIF — would be a major blow.

In his opening speech to an audience that included Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Manet, Macron called for unity.

The enlargement of the OIF, which promotes economic and cultural cooperation, “requires us to build consensus in order to preserve the union”, the French president said.

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