MONUSCO helping Tshisekedi fight M23 rebels

Author: Jones Mila

• 2024-02-14 05:28:00

In November 2023, the United Nations agreed with the request of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for an accelerated withdrawal of its peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO).

Established in November 1999 as the Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo (MONUC), the blue helmets’ mandate was to fight armed groups in the mineral rich country, so as to protect civilians. In 2010, the mission was renamed MONUSCO.

Currently, 12,800 of the initial 20,000 troops are still deployed in different regions of DRC, on a budget of more than $1 billion a year. It is the most expensive peacekeeping mission in the UN’s history, despite the fact that for more than two decades of operations in eastern DRC, it has brought no positive change. Armed groups multiplied from about five to over 260, as of 2024.

Although the UN agreed to withdraw MONUSCO, last year, the mission’s troops have been actively joining hands with the Congolese army coalition since early January 2024, participating in large scale and indiscriminate massacres of Congolese Tutsi communities.

Congolese Tutsi communities, whom M23 rebels are fighting to protect, are being persecuted by the Congolese army coalition of Burundian troops, SADC troops, Wazalendo militia, Eastern European mercenaries, and the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR, with support from MONUSCO.

The blue helmets have constantly failed the Congolese population. In their presence, successive Congolese governments have been arming FDLR and other armed groups to fight the M23, a Congolese rebel group fighting for the rights of the Congolese Tutsi.

A source from Kinshasa said that under President Felix Tshisekedi, MONUSCO has been comfortably operating without clear identification and engaging in combat as mafias, mercenaries or any other militia groups, like Wazalendo and FDLR.

On February 10, the Acting Commander of MONUSCO met with Congolese government officials to discuss how to coordinate military action against the M23 as part of the so-called operation “Springbok”, purportedly designed to fight M23 and prevent it from taking over Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province.

The same day saw MONUSCO and the Congolese army coalition jointly engaged in the attack against M23 positions in Mweso and Katsiru, in Masisi Territory, North Kivu, which caused the displacement of over 2,000 people.

The Peace initiatives like the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes were violated by Tshisekedi under this collaboration.

The two agreements stipulated a ceasefire of all armed groups, political dialogue with armed groups. However, all of them were ruined by Kinshasa with support from MONUSCO.

By violating the initiated regional peace processes and supporting Tshisekedi’s evil acts, MONUSCO is not protecting people as mandated but serving Tshisekedi’s personal interests.

Congolese people realized MONUSCO is not protecting them but exacerbating the crisis. The perception has led to violent protests throughout the country. The Congolese have angrily set MONUSCO’s facilities on fire.

As a departing force that has spent over two decades in the DRC, making the most of their remaining time by prioritizing peacekeeping efforts would have been the ideal course of action. However, they allowed malevolence to prevail, enabling the execution of countless Congolese Tutsi civilians in the country.