EngRegional
DRC: Continued violations of peace agreements clear sign Kinshasa ready for war, not peace
As
the Democratic Republic of Congo security situation deteriorates, the former
president of Kenya and facilitator of the East African Community (EAC) process,
Uhuru Kenyatta, convened an urgent meeting with the EAC Technical Advisory team
on the current state of affairs.
According
to a statement released after the meeting on January 31, the former head of
state, and the bloc’s technical team "expressed deep concern to the
serious violation of the Nairobi Principles and the Luanda Agreement" and
noted that serious escalation of fighting and targeted killings were reported to
be taking place in Ituri and North Kivu Provinces.
For
Kinshasa, these words are falling on deaf ears as they abandoned all political
will and chose the way of war, by effectively escalating tensions despite all
the efforts to bring back peace.
In
the past few days, the situation in Ituri and North Kivu made headlines about
the renewed fighting between a coalition of the Congolese army, FARDC, the
Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR, foreign mercenaries, and other armed groups
launched a provocative attack against the M23 rebels.
It
is worth noting that; since December 2022, the M23 rebels began to withdraw
from their positions, in respect of the Luanda agreement. The East African
Community regional force (EACRF) now controls positions vacated by the rebels.
The Kinshasa
coalition is torturing, hunting down, and systematically killing
Kinyarwanda-speaking communities, especially Congolese Tutsi, atrocities that
are neither condemned nor acknowledged by the DRC government.
For Kinshasa the lives of Congolese Tutsi do
no matter.
Addressing
the issue, Kenyatta and his advisory committee called for "urgent return
to dialogue and consultation in order to promote trust and confidence among the
parties to the conflict and alleviate the suffering of the people of eastern
DRC.”
The
DRC government is keen in refusing to normalize political and diplomatic
relations with Rwanda, but constantly accuses the neighboring country of
backing the M23 rebels, a claim Kigali denies and urges Kinshasa to deal with
the rebels’ issue domestically.
The
latest jab came when the DRC government decided to expel Rwandan officers
working under the regional mechanism in finding peace in the eastern part of
their country. This a clear indication that Kinshasa wants to deteriorate the
tension relations even more.
This
shows that Kinshasa is interfering with the bloc’s efforts to bring peace in
their country.
Another
example is the staged demonstrations against the EAC Regional Force, on January
18, planned by Congolese officials, where the Congolese called for the EACRF to
attack the M23 rebels, or leave the country.
According
to media reports, DRC has hired more than 200 mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner
group and ex-French Legionnaires. They were flown in Goma, under the guise of
training Congolese soldiers, yet they are launching attacks and flying
Congolese fighter jets; which have violated Rwanda’s airspace on three
different occasions.
Hiring
mercenaries, staging demonstration against the EACRF, expelling officers
working under the regional bloc, and launching attacks against the M23 rebels
yet they are withdrawing, are all clear signs that Kinshasa is ready for war
not peace.
The DRC’s
maneuvers in violating the peace processes are slowly coming to light as
indicated by Kenyatta and his advisory committee.
Kinshasa
can no longer hide the fact that it is comfortable with the chaos and is
creating more.
