Great Lakes Region: Museveni urges political will, limited foreign involvement

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President Yoweri Museveni has blamed the conflicts in the Eastern DRC on the politics of identity, fueled by foreigners since the days of Mobutu Sese Seko and Juvenal Habyarimana.

"We now know the problems, and we can solve them. There's nothing we don't know about all these countries: Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo, Tanzania, and Kenya. These are our people. In my opinion, these problems are easy to solve. They are not difficult. What is difficult are the three mistakes: philosophy, ideology, and strategy,” said President Museveni on Wednesday, May 28, 2025.

Addressing the 12th high-level Regional Oversight Mechanism summit, Museveni added that, “the Mobutu army was defeated in Rwanda, and together with Habyarimana, they fled to Goma. We appealed to Mobutu to disarm them. He wouldn't listen because he thinks the internal forces don't matter. We, the neighbours, don't matter. What matters are the foreigners who are supporting them. Why was Mobutu not listening? We were here. We could have helped him.”

President Museveni interacting with dignitaries.

Mobutu was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the first and only president of Zaire from 1971 to 1997.

Museveni made the remarks held at State House Entebbe after assuming the chairmanship of the Regional Oversight Mechanism (ROM) of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes Region.

According to a release from the Presidential Press Unit (PPU) Museveni emphasised the collective responsibility of all involved in the peace processes while calling for limited foreign interference in the region.

“Because we know what the problem is, and it can be solved, but we must have the political will, and foreigners should limit their involvement, because foreigners are the ones who carelessly embolden the mistake. Then the mistake makers think that we don't care about these internal groups. We don't care about the region. What is important is our support,” Museveni said.

At the event, Évariste Ndayishimiye, the President of the Republic of Burundi, handed over the instruments of power to President Museveni to steer the peace mechanism for the next two years.

Évariste Ndayishimiye, the President of the Republic of Burundi (L), handing over the instruments of power to President Museveni to steer the peace mechanism for the next two years.

The Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework, established in 2013 under the auspices of the United Nations, the African Union, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), aims to tackle the root causes of instability in eastern DRC through collective regional responsibility.

While Museveni congratulated his counterpart for the good work he has done, relatedly, Ndayishimiye congratulated Museveni and assured him of continued support during his tenure.

he high-level meeting chaired by President Museveni brought together the heads of state and government or the representatives of the signatory countries of the PSC Framework, which include the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Angola, the Republic of Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Kenya, and the Republic of Rwanda.

Others are the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Zambia.

The representatives of the Guarantor Institutions of the PSC Framework, namely the African Union, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the United Nations, also participated in the meeting, as well as partners of the region as observers.