Open letter to Senator Francine Muyumba of DRC

Dear Senator,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am compelled to write to you regarding your misleading statements on Rwanda that you made when in Goma, recently. You blamed Rwanda for supporting the M23 rebels and attacking DRC for no reason. First of all, you know very well that M23 are not Rwandans. They are Congolese who speak Kinyarwanda. As a politician you know very well how the colonialists demarcated African borders irrespective of people belonged.  That’s how your country, DRC, has a big population that speaks Kinyarwanda, and are therefore, legitimate Congolese. Rwanda should not, in any way, be dragged into the M23 rebellion against the DRC government.

Unfortunately, when politicians like you begin disowning the M23 and link them to Rwanda, you simply are shifting blame for DRC’s internal problems. Of recent, Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese were targeted and killed. The atmosphere in eastern DRC is full of hate speech, which is supported by DRC leaders and security institutions. As an activist, I believe, you should be much concerned with the killing of innocent people irrespective of their nationality. You should condemn the rampant violation of human rights if you truly subscribe to a Pan Africanist spirit.

Dear Senator, you talked about criminals who committed the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and ran to DRC. You reasoned that “some of them who were 60 years are now 90,” implying that they are now elderly and do not pose any threat to Rwanda! I wish to inform you that genocide is a crime against humanity and the age factor should not be a measure of the threat against Rwanda.

Many of the planners of the genocide did not hold machetes and guns to kill. They preached and spread the genocide ideology which led many others to hold machetes and guns to kill. Whether less than 90 years or beyond, the threat remains the same, if not more dangerous as they grow older.  It is a fact that eastern DRC today, is infested with anti-Tutsi propaganda and the genocide ideology than before 1994 because of the FDLR's influence.

Secondly, assuming that the original FDLR are ageing and their children are innocent is false. The FDLR terror group regularly carries out recruitment of new members who are indoctrinated with the genocide ideology. The FDLR, whether old or young, cannot be underestimated.  The FDLR is an existential threat to Rwanda and cannot be tolerated by age or their numbers. 

There were previous efforts between Rwanda and DRC to resolve the FDLR problem but these efforts, for unknown reasons, were stopped by the DRC authorities. What followed, and that is still shocking for Rwanda, is for DRC authorities to turn around and incorporate the FDLR into their national army – FARDC.  

As a lawyer, I believe you know very well that this act is against international law, where a government legitimizes an armed terror group which is responsible for committing genocide. Instead, FDLR should be disarmed and repatriated to Rwanda, whether they are criminals or not. The rest will be dealt with Rwanda and should not be a concern to DRC authorities.

Dear Senator, you mentioned numbers of Rwandans and Congolese who cross the common border between Rubavu and Goma, indicating that 3,000 Rwandans crossing to Goma against 400 Congolese going to Rwanda. The point you are raising here seems to suggest that Rwanda needs DRC more than DRC needs Rwanda, which is not the case. What would happen to Goma if the Rubavu food market closed? These are issues you may not be aware of as you live thousands of kilometers away, in Kinshasa.

Cross border statistics indicate that since, 2018, more than 90,000 people are registered as daily crossing the DRC-Rwanda border, making it one of the busiest borders in Africa.  

Whatever numbers that cross from each side, there is no country that needs the other more. Both countries need each other equally, for business, people to people interactions, and much more, for peaceful coexistence.  Rwandans in DRC should feel safe as Congolese in Rwanda should feel the same.

I agree with you that it’s high time the problems between DRC and Rwanda are addressed sincerely. As an activist and politician, I believe you should be driven by facts rather than sentiments, or hearsay. The fundamental question that should be answered is that of finding the root causes of the bad blood between DRC and Rwanda.

I do not agree with you when you say that, “Congo can’t continue to suffer because of Rwanda’s problems…. We do not believe that the eternal FDLR problem is the only problem Rwanda has with DRC…”

Rwanda has not subjected to DRC any form of suffering. That’s a misconception. The DRC should carry its own cross of the problems with the M23 without looking for a scapegoat. I am not aware of any other problem between Rwanda and DRC. But even if they existed, I believe that they are not as fundamental as the FDLR question, which you are trying to downplay. The FDLR is a threat to the survival of Rwandans. This should tell you what it means to millions of Rwandans.

Indeed, the Great Lakes region needs peace. And this can start with DRC disowning FDLR, which is planning to go back to Rwanda and finish the genocide against the Tutsi that was never completed in 1994. You know very well that eastern DRC has more than 130 armed rebel groups that are the epicenter of insecurity in the region. This requires, first and foremost, the leadership in DRC to find ways and means of dealing with the problem while regional countries and the international community, if need be, can come in on request to provide support.

Dear Senator, I believe that Rwanda and DRC can work together and solve the existing problems by tackling the root cause of conflicts, rather than being driven by sentiments and political scores, or trying to deal with symptoms. I was happy to hear you say that you cannot undermine the genocide against the Tutsi, and that nor do you support criminals. This is what is expected of every right thinking soul. 

Genocide is a crime against humanity punishable under international law. And genocide ideology, which is shared by all FDLR, some of whom you may call innocent because they were not there in 1994, is dangerous too and punishable by law. The ideology is what breeds hate speech and killers. Politicians come and go. The borders between Rwanda and DRC will never move. Rwandans and Congolese need each other and must live in peace and harmony.  Amani.       

Matiya Mulumba

Concerned citizen of the Great Lakes Region