Rwanda has been given the leadership of the Organization for Combating the Illicit Proliferation of Small Arms in Africa (RECSA).
At a handover ceremony held in Kenya, where Rwanda was represented by the Minister of Internal Security, Dr. Vincent Biruta, Rwanda announced that it had been given the responsibility to chair the Cabinet meeting of the organization on the evening of June 13, 2025, the Minister of Internal Security announced this in a message sent via his social media.
Minister Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe took the opportunity to announce that the Democratic Republic of the Congo wanted to reiterate its commitment to Rwanda being given these responsibilities as it did at CEEAC in recent days.
He said: “It is important to remember that the DRC was trying to convince Rwanda to accept RESCA leadership. Unfortunately, all the African regional organizations cannot use the incompetent Kinshasa government.”
This is part of the RECSA organization, which was established in 2005 and has programs to monitor, prevent and combat the illicit supply and use of small arms in 15 African countries, namely Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, DRC, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Republic of Congo, Sudan and South Sudan. This organization in September 2025 said that it was concerned about the large number of weapons in excess of 100 million among the population and armed groups in various African countries that are used in malicious acts of security.
The government of Kinshasa (DRC) wanted to prevent Rwanda from being given these responsibilities, citing the problems of insecurity in that country, especially in its eastern part.
The DRC had recently carried out a similar operation, which was successful, but this time it was a hindrance to Rwanda, which was about to be given the leadership of the CEEAC organization, which led Rwanda to decide to withdraw from the organization.
The RECSA organization celebrated its 20th anniversary and also burned 6,000 weapons seized from illegal activities that undermined the security of Africa between 2022 and 2025.
