Speaking in an interview with the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) on Sunday, June 8, Nduhungirehe described ECCAS as one of the least effective regional economic communities in the African Union, citing its dysfunctional leadership and failure to conduct audits of member states' funds for a decade.
The minister's remarks follow Rwanda's abrupt exit from ECCAS on Saturday, during the 26th Ordinary Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Rwanda's withdrawal was triggered by what it called a deliberate violation of its treaty-given right to assume the rotating chairmanship, a move orchestrated by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and supported by certain ECCAS members.
During the Sunday night interview, Nduhungirehe elaborated on the deeper issues plaguing ECCAS, emphasising its governance and financial mismanagement.
'ECCAS has been a dysfunctional regional economic community, one of the least effective of all regional economic communities of the African Union,' he stated.
'We have issues of integration, of infrastructure, and of governance. We have a president of the commission who doesn't act together with other commissioners. We have issues of audits since 2015 and 2020; we have never had any audit of the use of our moneyâ€"the money of member states.'
The issues, combined with broader governance failures, such as the organisation's inability to adhere to its own treaty and the exclusion of Rwanda from key discussions, fueled Kigali's decision to leave the 11-member bloc, established in 1983 to promote economic integration in Central Africa.
Nduhungirehe also pointed to a pattern of marginalisation within ECCAS, citing a 2023 incident when the DRC, as chair, prevented Rwanda from speaking at the 22nd Summit in Kinshasa.
Rwanda's formal protest to the African Union went unanswered, further highlighting ECCAS's governance shortcomings.
'There has been a general issue of effectiveness and governance in ECCAS,' Nduhungirehe said, noting that the DRC's recent move to block Rwanda's chairmanship was 'the straw that broke the camel's back.'
The withdrawal marks a major shift in Central Africa's diplomatic landscape, particularly amid ongoing tensions between Rwanda and the DRC over security issues in eastern Congo.
While Rwanda has exited ECCAS, Nduhungirehe emphasised that the country will continue to engage with other regional bodies, such as the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
He also reaffirmed Rwanda's commitment to ongoing peace processes, including negotiations mediated by the AU and talks in Doha and Washington, despite what he described as the DRC's unprincipled actions.
'It's sad and unfortunate to see a community of 11 member states being manipulated by a single country,' Nduhungirehe said, lamenting ECCAS's failure to uphold its founding principles of regional integration and cooperation.
He expressed hope that other member states, including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe, would recognise the organisation's flawed trajectory.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/nduhungirehe-exposes-eccas-s-governance-audit-failures
