Macron trusts Mukwege, not Tshisekedi on DRC matters

Author: Samson Kasujja

• 2023-03-10 05:45:00

On the sideline of his recent tour in Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron, held a discreet meeting with Congolese gynecologist Dr Denis Mukwege, who is now a potential candidate in the December 2023 presidential polls.

The duo met for one hour at the residence of the French Ambassador in Kinshasa, on Saturday March 4, before Macron headed to the Presidential Palace for his official meeting with his Congolese counterpart, Félix Tshisekedi.

Speaking to Dr Mukwege, who uses his long-curated fame as the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner to pursue political interests, Macron wanted to have the “most precise and authentic feeling of the humanitarian situation on the spot" as his entourage clarified.

Macron’s adviser announced that he also wanted to put into practice his will to “support what is done best in Africa”.

Paris believes more in Mukwege than Tshisekedi when it comes to Kinshasa’s political life.

 But Macron was never frank enough to highlight it.

France took care to ensure the meeting with Mukwege got public only after Macron’s departure from Kinshasa, so as not to anger Tshisekedi.

"It would have created a stir among the authorities," a French diplomat explained.

The French president is betting on Mukwege as a great figure in Tshisekedi’s opposition, who could become a strong ally of France. The European country is often referred to as a king maker in Africa because of its strong political influence in some countries on the continent.

Evidences of Paris preferring Mukwege to Tshisekedi is nothing new. Former French President, François Hollande, in September 2022 paid a visit to eastern DRC where he met Mukwege and discussed the insecurity in the region.

There were no meetings with any other Congolese politicians from the government during Hollande's visit. Sources said that Tshisekedi did not want Hollande to meet Mukwege. A visa was only obtained after pressure was mounted on Kinshasa.

Political commentators believe that openly discussing national issues with Mukwege in the absence of Congolese leaders, indicates that he is France’s favorite in DRC’s upcoming polls.

Mukwege has, for long, been France’s dotted Congolese. He is an honorary citizen of Melun commune, in north-central France, since 2016.

He signed a cooperation agreement between his hospital and the Melun-Sénart hospital for medication and training of staff as well as transfer of equipment. On September 13, 2022, Mukwege inaugurated a school that bears his name in Melun, “Groupe Scolaire Denis Mukwege.”

Back in 2019, Macron announced that France was the first country to finance the initiative to ‘repair women’ victims of sexual violence by Mukwege and Nadia Murad Base, co-Nobel Peace Prize winner, with 6 million euros.

Paris may even have influenced the way Mukwege got the Nobel Prize, in order to make the world pay attention to him.

In October 2022, following the three Nobel Prize winners being all members of the Paris-based human rights organization, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Macron tweeted: “Crafters of peace, they know they can count on France’s support.”

This revealed that France has some influence in determining whom to give the prize basing on its favorites, Mukwege included.

France is leaving no stone unturned to make Mukwege Tshisekedi’s successor.