DRC: Congolese army at forefront of killing Rwandophones

Author: Josephine Kalembe

• 2023-03-22 05:06:00

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the persecution and killing of Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese is a matter that never ceases to make headlines in the media, especially social media where gruesome videos and pictures capturing these atrocities circulate daily.

Spearheading most of these massacres are the Congolese army soldiers in a coalition with the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR, the APCLS, and Mai Mai groups; inciting, encouraging and collaborating with Congolese negative forces to persecute Rwandophones.

On March 18, in Kimoka village in Masisi territory located in North Kivu, two FARDC officers, Col Gatali Ngarukiye Céléstin, Lt Gahaya Adrien, and their escorts were killed by their compatriots that are in the coalition of Mai Mai APCLS and FDLR combatants.

The reason of their deaths was because they were all Rwandophones. This kind of animosity has been witnessed in different areas on several occasions, in January 2023, in Kisangani, a Lt Col of the FARDC was attacked and molested by his fellow military and police officers.

One would have thought that a FARDC officer will spare a Rwandophone’s life. But that is wishful thinking. The Genocide ideology planted in DRC by the FDLR has been spreading like a wild fire in the population as well as in Congolese soldiers.

The FDLR is a militia group mainly made up of people responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. They were openly integrated within the Congolese military and now continue their genocide agenda, especially on Congolese Tutsi, from within.

On several occasions, senior Congolese government and military officials have come on record to call upon the population to take up arms and kill Kinyarwanda-speaking compatriots or even Rwandans living in the neighbouring country.

Trouble is, Kinshasa is fanning hatred and encouraging or turning a blind eye to the Kinyarwanda speaking community’s suffering presumably on grounds that people in this community are agents of Rwanda fighting alongside M23 rebels and that they are simply not Congolese.

This violence inflicted on members of the Rwandophone community in DRC is fueled by military and police personnel.