Regional

DRC: Tshisekedi entrusting his protection to Génocidaires

2023-08-27 05:30:00

The former President of the National Electoral Commission (CENI) of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Corneille Nangaa, recently took a bold step when denouncing President Félix Tshisekedi's coalition with the Rwandan genocidal forces - the FDLR.

The perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda formed the FDLR. In 1999, the group was blacklisted as terrorists by the US.

Nangaa who declared Tshisekedi as the winner of the 2018 presidential elections, claims that the former has integrated FDLR members into his elite protection unit and stationed them in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.

As a former close ally of Tshisekedi, Nangaa is now President and founding member of the political party l’Action pour la dignité du Congo et de son peuple (ADCP), and his criticism against Tshisekedi is only mounting, as he has revealed his intentions to run as a candidate in the December presidential elections.

The strained relationship between Nangaa and the government dates back to the establishment of his political party. A month after its creation, the national police abruptly withdrew the security detail assigned to him without any explanation. Citing the suspicious deaths of Generals Delphin Kahimbi and Timothée Munkuto, Nangaa expressed the need for caution in such circumstances.

Nangaa's criticism does not end there. Nangaa accuses the authorities of integrating FDLR fighters into the presidential guards, a move that he believes compromises national security.

The United Nations, the United States, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have amassed credible evidence that the Congolese army collaborated with armed groups, including FDLR, during clashes with rebels in the eastern part of the country. HRW reported that the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) joined forces with a coalition of Congolese militia and FDLR to combat the M23 rebels in North Kivu province between May and August 2022.

While Tshisekedi and his associates persist in blaming Rwanda for the internal political crisis, there are politicians like Nangaa who see through the rhetoric and are beginning to lose faith in Tshisekedi's leadership, and have decided to take matters in their own hands.

In a climate of political tension, conflicting narratives, and concerns over national security, the DRC stands at a crossroads.

The choices made by its leaders of promoting hate speech and associating with negative armed groups will make this country more insecure.

That is the intention of the leaders so as to postpone the presidential elections. Tshisekedi knows that he is not liked by the population and cannot win the poll.