Rwanda was blocked Saturday from its upcoming turn at the rotating presidency role in a Central African economic bloc.

Rwanda Sunday announced it was going to withdraw from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) over tensions with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group seized large swaths of eastern Congo earlier this year, including its two biggest cities, with the offensive having led to a broader war between the two neighbors.

The office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a statement that ECCAS members had “acknowledged the aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo by Rwanda and ordered the aggressor country to withdraw its troops from Congolese soil.”

Rwanda blocked from upcoming turn at ECCAS presidency

Kigali was expecting to take over the leadership of the 11-member bloc at a meeting on Saturday in Equatorial Guinea.

Instead, the bloc decided to let Equatorial Guinea continue with the role, which Rwanda’s foreign ministry decried as a violation of its rights.

“The conference postponed to another time the transfer of the rotating acting presidency of the community to the Republic of Rwanda and consequently decided to keep His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as acting president of the community for an additional year,” a communique said.

Rwanda condemned Congo’s “instrumentalization” of the bloc, saying in a statement it saw “no justification for remaining in an organization whose current functioning runs counter to its founding principles.”

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

DW News