Minister Nduhungirehe makes a point during the meeting on Monday.
Lack of political will and good faith on the side of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could undo the recent gains in the Luanda Process to restore peace in Eastern DRC and the Great Lakes Region, despite Rwanda and DRC signing a groundbreaking agreement in Angola earlier this week.
On Tuesday, after the adoption of the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) on Monday in Luanda, Angola, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe and DRC’s Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, with the facilitation of Angola’s Minister of External Relations, Amb. Téte António, held a virtual meeting to resume the discussion on the draft agreement between Rwanda and the DRC on the re-establishing of peace and stability in Eastern DRC and the promotion of cordial relations between the two countries.
The move has been hailed by observers in the region as a crucial step towards resolving the conflict between Rwanda and DRC, and also address the decades-long conflict that has affected the Eastern part of DRC.
While Rwanda says it remains fully committed to the Luanda process, under the facilitation of the Republic of Angola, the government maintains that DRC is not showing the political will, nor the good faith, to act accordingly.
Following the November 25th Sixth Ministerial meeting which adopted the CONOPs on the harmonized plan for the Naturalization of the FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures, Minister Nduhungirehe has expressed concern, particularly in regard to the utterances made by DRC official and actions of the DRC army, which reflect the opposite of what is agreed up. These concerns were raised during the meeting.
“Although we have adopted the CONOPS, Rwanda expressed its concerns during that meeting about the lack of political will and good faith by the DRC in implementing this agreement signed under the Luanda process,” Amb. Nduhungirehe told KT Press.
“I gave the example of several facts that happened since our last meeting, which was the fifth Minister meeting held on 12th of October. I informed the Ministers of DRC and Angola that DRC continued its militarization, sending more troops and new weapons in Eastern DRC. I also informed them that during that period, at least 27 attacks were made against M23 positions, which retaliated,” Minister Nduhungirehe said.
He said the actions by DRC, including attacks on M23 positions and continued hate speech, are a contradiction of what is agreed upon and are in violation of the ceasefire.
Minister Nduhungirehe attends a virtual meeting on November 26.
“I also told the meeting that the FARDC has moved the troops of the FLN, of Paul Rusesabagina, from the territory of Fizi in South Kivu, too close to our border. All of these happened in a political context of regime change and hate speech,”
“I gave the example of President Tshisekedi, who on 17th of November this year, met military and the civil leaders in the province of Haute Katanga and he said in the meeting, that if he’s given an opportunity to revise the Constitution, he would be able to change the regime in Rwanda. This was also followed by the inflammatory rhetoric of the Minister of Justice of DRC Constant Mutamba, on 24th of November at a prison in Goma,” Nduhungirehe said.
Amb. Nduhungirehe reiterated what was said earlier this week by Yolande Makolo, Government of Rwanda Spokesperson, condemning the remarks of the Justice Minister Mutamba, who was seen in a video on social media, inciting inmates in the overcrowded jail, and at the same time warning those who will be found guilty of collaborating with Rwanda, that they will be dealt with. On several occasions, he mentioned the name of President Paul Kagame in a bizarre rant.
“All the people who have been manipulated by Rwanda and Kagame, we will get you. We will not allow our country to be dominated by Rwandans. Do we understand each other? We will get all of you, along with Kagame,” the Congolese official is heard in the video, warning the inmates that among them there are some individuals who are accused of collaborating with Rwanda,” Mutamba threatened the helpless inmates.
Minister Nduhungirehe said that such hate speech is a sign of lack of political will on the side of DRC, as well as lack of good faith in addressing the conflict and he raised it at the 6th Tripartite.
“It is really without a doubt rhetorical hate speech, which not only calls for murder against the Congolese Tutsi but also hate speech and unacceptable remarks about our President and our country. So, I informed them about this climate which shows that DRC doesn’t have the political will to move forward,”
“Nonetheless, yesterday evening we also had a virtual meeting to resume our discussions on the draft agreement between Rwanda and DRC, under the facilitation of Angola, aimed at reestablishing peace and stability in Eastern DRC and promoting cordial relations between Rwanda and DRC,” he told KT Press.
In Luanda and during the virtual meeting, Amb. Nduhungirehe said they discussed a number of issues but they did not dwell much on the issue of the M23, which was addressed but not on the substance.
“We agreed to meet again in another meeting to address this issue because we clearly stated as a country that there are three security issues between Rwanda and DRC, which are the neutralisation of FDLR, the lifting of our measures, which were addressed by the CONOPs and then the remaining security concern is that of M23,”
“I hope that in another meeting we will be able to address that issue because we want to find a political solution to it, addressing the root causes of the conflict in order to find a final solution to this crisis,” he pointed out.
With the continued rhetoric, Government Spokesperson Makolo said that Rwanda will not scale down security measures, in a follow up tweet condemning the Justice Minister.
“How sick is the DR Congo justice system? So sick that the DRC justice minister Constant Mutamba wore a mask to stem the stench of rot in the Muzenze prison in Goma, a stone’s throw from the Rwandan border, while he spewed, in Kiswahili, hate speech and incited the prisoners to hunt, denounce and kill “Banyarwanda” even the President of Rwanda, in exchange for freedom. This is what Rwanda has to deal with every day. This is why Rwanda’s defensive measures remain in place,” Makolo tweeted.
