Regional
Allegations of Rwanda backing M23 expose plot to sabotage Rwanda DRC rapprochement
![image](webadmin/images/blob.jpg-20220405072454000000.jpg)
Clearly, some people are conspiring to damage Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's rapprochement, and the efforts of the two nations’ Presidents at collaboration in mutual security and stability.
On
March 28, 2022, the Spokesperson of the governor of DRC’s North Kivu province, Brig
Gen Sylvain Ekenge, called a press conference and accused the Rwanda Defence Force
(RDF) of supporting a rebel group named the March 23 Movement (M23). He claimed it had «carried out incursions and
attacked Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) positions in Tchanzu and Runyoni, in
the Rutshuru territory. »
Gen.
Ekenge said two Rwandan soldiers were arrested following the recent attacks. He
paraded two individuals and gave their alleged identities: Warrant Officer
Jean-Pierre Habyarimana and Private John Uwajeneza Muhindi, alias Zaje, of the
65th Battalion of the 402nd RDF Brigade from Kibungo military
camp, in Eastern province, near Rwanda’s border with Tanzania.
The
two men, dressed in civilian clothes, and standing near him were shown on
Congolese television.
The
Governor of Rwanda’s Western Province, François Habitegeko, refuted
“the baseless accusations” from the spokesperson of North Kivu Province.
Habitegeko
said the same two names were mentioned by the
Congolese Military and Intelligence Delegation during the DRC Rwanda bilateral
meeting of the Joint Intelligence Teams held on February 25, 2022 in Kigali.
He noted that: “The Joint Intelligence Teams were not subsequently
allowed to interrogate those individuals for a Joint Assessment as is the
practice.”
Habitegeko noted
that the Rwandan military does not have any members with the names presented in
the statement by the spokesperson for the North Kivu Governor.
He said the
allegations are “an attempt to manipulate the opinion by presenting two
individuals arrested under obscure circumstances” more than one month after elements
captured in fighting on March 28.
On the evening of the same
day, the DRC Government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, appeared on a French TV
and, referring to the "assertions
of the [DRC] army", he said "it
is time to put an end to this form of hypocrisy or this form of complicity
between the M23 and the government of Rwanda."
“My colleague of Foreign Affairs will invite the
ambassador of Rwanda, so that he comes to give us explanations.”
On
Tuesday, March 29, Rwanda's Ambassador in Kinshasa, Vincent Karega, reiterated
Rwanda Government’s response to the unverified accusations.
He
said: «Rwanda does not support the M23,
neither politically nor militarily." Amb Karega reaffirmed Rwanda’s
commitment "for verification and
joint cooperation in relation to those accusations. »
As
demonstrated by the Government of Rwanda, besides the fact that RDF did not
have any soldiers with the names mentioned, the two paraded men were arrested
"more than a month ago,"
and have been in detention long before Monday’s attacks.
In a
report by Jeune Afrique, on March 29,
2022: “DRC-Rwanda: the
confidential report of DR Congo’s intelligence on the M23 rebels”, it was revealed that the FARDC communication reportedly generated unease at the
highest level. An inside source said that, «it's a situation that embarrasses
us and even embarrasses the president. There will be sanctions, » said the same
source.
These
hurried and unverified accusations against Rwanda exposed some people’s plot to
harm the DRC – Rwanda rapprochement and Presidents Tshisekedi and Kagame’s
efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation, a regional analyst has observed.
“More
specifically, the sabotage seems to operate in the military ranks by providing
false and fabricated military intelligence,” he said.
When the rebel group launched attacks nearly four
months ago, the Rwandan military spokesman said allegations that it was Kigali
behind their resumed attacks were false propaganda aimed at spoiling the good
relations between Rwanda and the DRC.
Kigali never ever denied having a relationship with
the M23 rebels.
In 2013, after fleeing to
Rwanda, the M23 rebels were disarmed and secured in Rubavu district, near the
border of the DRC.
But
knowing the danger they could pose, about two weeks later, Kigali relocated the
group of about 680 M23 fighters to the country’s Eastern Province, far away
from the Rwanda-DRC border.
Kigali
was doing its best to abide by international
norms which dictate that in a situation where armed rebels cross into a
country, they must be relocated to a place far from the borderline of their
country.
Fact, however, is that while the group that sought
refuge in Rwanda was disarmed, and accounted for, not much the same can be said
about the group that fled to Uganda.
Worse still, President Tshisekedi seems to be faced with issues more serious than the
false accusations against Rwanda.
He will have to cope with sabotage and political
coalitions that express contempt for their leader and loom as the most
insidious betrayal of his Presidency.