On the 29th of March 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo was officially welcomed into the East African community. However, for it to start enjoying the benefits of the East African community integration, the chairman of the East African community Uhuru Kenyatta the current president of Kenya had to sign the treaty of Accession by 14th April followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s deposit of instruments of ratification by 29th September 2022.
With the signing of the treaty of accession today, the Democratic Republic of Congo is only left with depositing the instrument of ratification to fully be integrated into the East African community. Among the presidents who were present for today’s ceremony included president Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and emissaries for Burundi and South Sudan.
For the first time in many years, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the president of Uganda was also able to have a private talk with Paul Kagame the president of Rwanda. It should be noted that for close to three years, Rwanda had closed its land borders with Uganda due to differences that also saw president Paul Kagame refer to president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda as a bully.