Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe says claims by Congolese officials that Rwanda is isolated are unfounded and part of the empty rhetoric from Kinshasa. File Photo.
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe says Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) officials have resorted to drama and making unfounded statements in the media, instead of focusing on addressing key issues that stand in the way of finding lasting solutions to the conflict in their country.
In an interview with KT Press, Minister Nduhungirehe spoke out on claims made by his DRC counterpart Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, who on January 9, together with Patrick Muyaya, Minister of Communication and Media, during a press conference, claimed that Rwanda was isolating itself from the rest of the world.
This followed the postponement of the December 15 summit in Luanda, to address the causes of conflict in Eastern DRC and assess the role each country had to play to resolve the situation, subsequently followed by M23 rebels making advances, capturing more territories in Eastern DRC.
Amb. Nduhungirehe said that instead of working on their part of the recommendations, officials in Kinshasa have resorted to empty rhetoric and making unfounded statements which aggress Rwanda.
Minister Nduhungirehe said that claiming that Rwanda has isolated itself doesn’t even make sense at all but it is part of the rhetoric and communication drama Congolese officials and diplomats have turned to, instead of tackling outstanding issues that stand in the way for peace.
“It doesn’t make any sense to say that Rwanda isolated itself. How can we isolate ourselves when we have just organised the first ever General Assembly of the FIA In Africa? How can we isolate ourselves when we are organising, this year, the first world cycling tour in Africa, here in Rwanda?” Nduhungirehe said, wondering what Congolese officials call self-isolation.
Amb. Nduhungirehe said that Rwanda will this year host more international events and summits, including the Francophonie Ministerial Meeting, among others, which goes to show that the country is not isolated in the international arena.
“We are now facing a situation where Congolese officials are now using empty communication formulas, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Nduhungirehe said, adding that there is nothing new in the recent criticism that has been directed towards Rwanda by some western powers, which is what seems to have excited Congolese officials.
“This has always been the case. Every country has to follow its interests. They criticise us and we criticise them. So, this doesn’t mean that any of the countries involved are isolated. It doesn’t make any sense,” the Foreign Affairs Minister said, adding that perhaps Congolese officials missed the meaning of isolation.
What next after the cancelled Luanda Summit?
Minister Nduhungirehe also shed light on the fate of Luanda negotiations, emphasizing that Rwanda maintains its stand, which is finding a political solution to the crisis, which would entail the DRC government holding talks with the fighting groups, including M23, to address the root causes.
With continued rhetoric, threats and warmongering by DRC officials, including the President who openly campaigns for a regime change in Rwanda and government forces still allied with armed groups, including FDLR, Rwanda says it cannot change its position and will keep in place its security measures, until DRC shows the political will to act.
“For us we have been clear. We have three security issues between Rwanda and DRC. We have the issue of the FDLR which has to be neutralised, the issue of the our defensive measures which were deployed in reaction to these threat of the FDLR and we have the issue of the M33,”
“The two first issues were addressed at least on paper, in the Concept of Operations or the CONOPS, that was adopted by Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 25th of November, 2024 in Luanda. On this, we still have a problem of implementation. As we speak now, the collaboration between the FDLR and FARDC has not been stopped,” Nduhungirehe said.
He pointed out that despite the good spirit of the Luanda process, Congolese officials continued to do the opposite of what was expected of them, which became the main source of disagreements.
“It is as if the Congolese government officials just attend the Luanda meetings just for international consumption, but on the ground, the collaboration with the FDLR continues, but at least we have on paper, a concept of operations that was signed. But now the issue that is remaining is that of the M23,” Amb. Nduhungirehe said, highlighting the impediments.
“We have always requested that there are direct talks between the DRC government and M23, tackling the root causes of the conflict; which are the marginalisation, the persecution and discrimination of the Congolese Tutsi, who are victims of hate speech. When they tackle the root causes, they will find a lasting solution to this crisis because, we don’t want this issue of the M23 and the Congolese Tutsi to go on and on, over and over again,” Nduhungirehe said.
Amb. Nduhungirehe said there is a need to find a final and definitive solution to the crisis but the Congolese government has not been up to the task, which has complicated the security situation in the region.
Security threat remains
He said the fact that the DRC continues to integrate armed groups in its forces to carry out attacks on communities in Eastern DRC and threaten Rwanda’s security, is a major issue that needs to be addressed before a lasting solution for peace is found.
“We are talking about the FDLR but the FDLR are part of a larger coalition that is deployed in Eastern DRC, with a regime change mandate. FARDC is partnering with FDLR, they are partnering with the Wazalendo criminal militia, they are partnering with European mercenaries, which were deployed in contravention of the OAU Convention of 1977 and the U.N convention of the 1989,”
“They are also partnering with the Burundian forces that are still on the ground, even the SAMIDRC forces. So, for us, this whole coalition pauses a threat to our security, because it was deployed in the context of aggressive and bellicose rhetoric by President Tshisekedi, who stated on several occasions that he wants to overthrow the government in Rwanda, that he wants to bomb Kigali,” Amb. Nduhungirehe said.
Minister Nduhungirehe said that as long as that alliance with a regime change mandate remains in place, Rwanda cannot scale down its security measures, observing that the DRC government forcefully assimilated M23 to Rwanda, and to them, attacking M23 is attacking Rwanda by extension.
“This is what is in the mind of the DRC officials. So, for us, this coalition is a direct threat to our security. We request that this coalition be withdrawn, because there cannot be any security at our border if we have this coalition with a regime change mandate,” he said.
Following the cancellation of the December 15 Luanda summit, no new date has been set for Rwanda and DRC to resume talks. In a Press conference last week, President Paul Kagame said that meetings which are not backed by political will to genuinely resolve the conflict which has lasted for three decades, are meaningless.
