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When the 25th East African Community Summit opened in Arusha, Tanzania on Friday, two chairs that were supposed to be occupied were conspicuously empty. Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and the DRC’s Félix Tshisekedi both skipped the meeting, and while the official line was about busy schedules, nobody in the region is pretending that those two men have a normal working relationship right now.
The war in eastern Congo has been dragging on painfully, with Rwanda accused of backing M23 rebels and the DRC shooting back accusations almost weekly. So when these two leaders both choose not to show up to the same room, you do not need a political science degree to read between the lines.
EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva tried to manage the optics, telling journalists that both presidents had communicated their absence in advance and that the bloc’s rules allow any head of state to send a representative. Kagame sent Rwanda’s Prime Minister in his place. Tshisekedi sent two ministers to represent the DRC.
South Sudan’s Salva Kiir also skipped, reportedly because of problems at home, and was also represented by a minister.
The leaders who did show up included Uganda’s Museveni, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan who hosted the event, Kenya’s William Ruto, Burundi’s Évariste Ndayishimiye and Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Beyond the diplomacy and speeches, ordinary residents in Arusha had very practical things on their minds. One local, Neema Swai, put it simply: people want the summit to remove trade barriers, create jobs for young people and stop depending so heavily on goods from outside the region. That sounds like something a trader in Kikuubo or a vendor in Nakasero market would say word for word.
About 700 delegates attended the summit. The leaders were also expected to elect a new EAC chair, with Tanzania and Somalia mentioned as likely frontrunners for the position
Museveni Now Chairs East Africa as Uganda Takes the Wheel at EAC Summit
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is now the man at the top of the East African Community table. He formally took over the chairmanship of the eight-member regional bloc on Friday, March 7, during the 25th EAC Heads of State Summit held in Arusha, Tanzania. He replaces Kenya’s William Ruto who had been holding the seat.
For Ugandans, this is a moment that carries some weight. The EAC chair rotates among member states, but whoever sits in that seat influences the direction of trade, infrastructure and regional security for East Africa over the coming year. With Uganda’s economy increasingly tied to cross-border commerce, whether it’s traders at Owino sending goods to Rwanda or boda boda operators carrying fuel from Kenya, what happens at Arusha does eventually land in our pockets.
In his remarks after being sworn in, Museveni called on partner states to work together more seriously, push for stronger trade connections and deal with the ongoing instability in eastern Congo which has been threatening the whole region. He vowed to prioritise infrastructure and make it easier for goods and people to move freely across borders.
The summit also welcomed a new Secretary-General. Tanzania’s Stephen Patrick Mbundi was appointed to lead the EAC Secretariat for the 2026 to 2031 term, taking over from Kenya’s Veronica Mueni Nduva. Mbundi previously served as Permanent Secretary in charge of East African affairs at Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so he knows the corridors of regional diplomacy well.
One footnote worth knowing: the EAC was originally born in 1967, collapsed ten years later over political disagreements, then came back to life in 2000. It has since grown from three founding members to eight, with Somalia being the most recent country to join in 2023. Whether this bigger family can actually function is the real question many people in Kampala coffee shops and Kikuubo trading stalls are quietly asking.
