Regional

DRC: Why has Tshisekedi excluded Congolese Tutsi from voting?

2023-12-03 05:30:00

On November 16, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi was interviewed by RFI’s Christophe Boisbouvier, and France 24’s Marc Perelman.

The French journalists engaged the president on the security situation in his country ahead of the December 20 elections. Tshisekedi was asked if he thinks that elections will go on in Masisi and Rutshuru, in North Kivu, where the M23 rebels have strongholds, and the president affirmed that elections would not happen in those territories.

“Unfortunately no, for Rutshuru and Masisi, I do not think that it will happen (elections), but we will try to continue to liberate those localities and bring back the displaced people. In the meantime, in other parts of the country, elections will go on,” said Tshisekedi.

The territories of Masisi and Rutshuru, in North Kivu, are home to hundreds of thousands of the Tutsi community who are being stripped off their right to vote.

Since the 1980s, different laws on nationality were passed to strip Rwandophones of Congolese nationality. This included the right to voting. Today, history is repeating itself as Tshisekedi is using the pretext of insecurity to stop the community from voting.

Tshisekedi failed to protect the Congolese Tutsi. He knows they will not vote for him, hence excluding them from elections.

Tshisekedi’s evil plot to exclude Congolese Tutsi from elections started in March 2023, when Congolese Tutsi complained about a violent campaign to stop them from voting. Several Congolese Tutsi were harassed, and beaten while on their way to register at voting centers.

The Congolese leader has allowed hate speech against Congolese Tutsi communities to spread nationwide. It is spread by Congolese defense, security or political figures, civil society actors, and members of the Congolese diaspora.

Tshisekedi has openly integrated the FDLR, a militia group mainly made up of people responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, into the Congolese military. With their help, these genocide perpetrators continued their genocidal agenda, targeting Congolese Tutsi.

The UN special adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, in January 2023, gave a stern warning that if no action is taken to stop these multiple attacks targeting civilians along ethnic lines, sexual violence, as well as Congolese authorities who don’t fulfill their duties to prevent violence, the region is risking to experience mass atrocities as it happened in Rwanda in 1994.

Tshisekedi’s irresponsibility and refusal to protect his own citizens, is reason enough to lose all votes in Masisi and Rutshuru. He knows it. His only option is to exclude the potential voters from elections.