DR Congo and Rwanda clash over Francophonie leadership at Phnom Penh summit
Kinshasa threatens to leave the 53-member organisation if Rwanda's Louise Mushikiwabo wins a third term in Monday's vote.
The summit of French-speaking states opened in Phnom Penh on Sunday, with the contest over who leads the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and a dispute between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda filling the two-day agenda.
Rwanda's Louise Mushikiwabo has led the organisation, known as the OIF, for eight years and is seeking a third term. DR Congo, the world's second most French-speaking country after France with 57.3 million speakers according to the OIF, opposes her and has threatened to leave the organisation if she is re-elected on Monday, Punch reported, citing several sources.
Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group inside DR Congo. Kigali denies it.
At a meeting of member foreign ministers in Phnom Penh on Saturday, DR Congo's foreign minister, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, said her country was willing to stand down its own candidate.
"We have called on all member states to work towards a consensus and, in that spirit, we would be prepared to withdraw our candidate's nomination in order to facilitate the emergence of a consensus," she said, according to Punch.
DR Congo's candidate is Juliana Lumumba, a former minister and a daughter of independence leader Patrice Lumumba. The Rio Times reported that Kinshasa would consider backing Dacian Cioloș, a former Romanian prime minister, as a unity candidate, on condition that other candidates and their backers showed the same openness.
Rwanda's foreign minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, welcomed the withdrawal but objected to Cioloș. He wrote on X that a non-African candidate would break an African Union executive council decision of 28-29 July 2026 that approved three African candidacies, The Rio Times reported.
Patrick Muyaya, spokesman for DR Congo's government, replied on X. He called Rwanda's complaint about French interference a "paradox" and said Paris had backed Mushikiwabo's election in 2018. He also asked why Rwanda now cited the African Union when President Paul Kagame had declined to travel to Luanda on 15 December 2024 to sign a peace accord on eastern DR Congo.
Macron's office said on Saturday that Paris had suggested both the Congolese and Rwandan candidates withdraw in the interests of unity, the Bangkok Post reported. Nduhungirehe said Rwanda had rejected a request from Macron to pull Mushikiwabo, according to Punch, which cited a report in Jeune Afrique.
The Rio Times listed four candidates: Mushikiwabo, Lumumba, Mauritania's Coumba Ba, a former minister, and Cioloș. Heads of state and government of the OIF's full members choose the secretary general.
France is the organisation's biggest donor, providing one third of its 2025 budget. Canada is second with 25 percent and has stressed the need for consensus. The Bangkok Post reported that Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso withdrew from the OIF last year after successive coups.
Macron is the first French president to visit Cambodia since 1993, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is also attending. The OIF says 0.16 percent of Cambodians speak French.
How the reports differ
Punch, citing the magazine Jeune Afrique, reported that Macron asked Rwanda to withdraw Mushikiwabo and that Nduhungirehe said Rwanda rejected the request. The Rio Times said it had not seen confirmation from the Élysée and that accounts of Kigali's reply differed, and it alone carried the African Union decision Nduhungirehe cited and Muyaya's reply about Kagame and Luanda. Punch alone carried Kayikwamba Wagner's quote offering to withdraw her country's nomination. The Bangkok Post led on Macron's office saying Paris had suggested both candidates stand down. The reports also counted the field differently: the Bangkok Post said four candidates were running in addition to Mushikiwabo, Punch said three, and The Rio Times listed four in total.
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