Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi is responsible for the Congolese national army's shooting on unarmed protestors on August 30, which claimed at least 48 deaths.

 

More than 60 others were injured while over 220 were arrested, following crackdown on an anti-UN protest in Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

The protest was organized by a group called the Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations, known colloquially as Wazalendo. Its supporters planned to demonstrate against the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO).

 

A source in Goma who preferred anonymity told The Great Lakes Eye that the shooting on protesters was ordered by the Military Governor of North Kivu, Lt Gen Constant Ndima Kongba. Then, the national army elements indiscriminately opened fire on the protesters.

 

As a government and military official, it is safe to say that Gen Ndima acted upon Tshisekedi’s commands, as the latter is the Commander-in-Chief of Congolese armed forces.

 

Images of Congolese soldiers dragging corpses and piling them into a lorry caused a public outcry surfacing on social media but Congolese army and government spokesman in North Kivu Lt Col Kaiko Ndjike said that the "defense forces had acted professionally."

 

It is obvious that the soldiers who opened fire on unarmed civilians do not feel guilty for their cowardice. In the meantime, Tshisekedi is trying to fool the Congolese people and international community by arresting just a few military officials, pretending to fight impunity.

 

The real perpetrator of bloodshed in Goma is Tshisekedi and he should be held accountable.

 

It is not the first time the Congolese President uses militia and protestors to attack the UN mission and EAC regional force.

 

Since at least July 2022, Tshisekedi plotted demonstrations against peacekeepers in eastern DRC, accusing them of failing to restore peace.

 

He wants the peacekeepers to attack the M23 rebels, which is not their mandate.

 

At least 36 people, including four UN peacekeepers, died in 2022 as hundreds of protesters vandalised and set fire to UN buildings in several eastern  DRC cities.

 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in August that MONUSCO embarked on a withdrawal plan, which will put an end to one of the longest and most expensive peacekeeping missions. That was despite leaving armed groups in the east of the country having multiplied from five in the 1990s to over 260 in 2023.

 

On the other hand, EAC Heads of State on September 5 extended the mandate of the regional force in DRC by further three months to December 8, 2023, to help consolidate the gains made.

 

The Secretary General of EAC, Peter Mathuki, has called for an "independent investigation" on the mass killing in Goma.

 

Tshisekedi’s wish is that peacekeepers exit the region so that the December presidential election can be delayed, with insecurity as a pretext.

 

He is sacrificing his own people in eastern DRC for personal gain.

 

Tshisekedi mobilized Congolese youth to create the Wazalendo among other groups which are sometime armed and disrupt the peace.

 

The groups are not only on the frontlines of demonstrations against peacekeepers in eastern DRC, but also persecuting Congolese Tutsi.

 

So, why did he order his army to open fire on protestors? Tshisekedi wants to confuse the Congolese and the international community about the factors behind the escalating violence in eastern DRC yet he is the troublemaker.