The 42^nd Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was held on August 17 in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

During the Summit, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi took over the SADC leadership a few months after he joined the East African Community, another regional bloc. In SADC, he took over from Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of Malawi.

 

Back home, Tshisekedi is faced with issues of insecurity in the eastern part of the DRC. His government is widely blamed for failing to contain the insecurity while Tshisekedi mainly accuses neighbouring Rwanda of working with the M23 rebels,  one among more than 130 other local and foreign armed groups in the country, who captured a tiny area of the North Kivu Province and are now demanding talks with the government to resolve the crisis, or atleast some of it. Tshisekedi calls the M23 terrorists. But the rebels see themselves as freedom fighters standing up for their rights just like any other Congolese citizens.

 

During the Summit, Tshisekedi could not help but expose himself by tuning into denial mode and blaming Rwanda for his failures during his presidency.  This is the narrative he has been promoting having realized that elections were getting closer and there was nothing to show the electorate as fruits of his leadership.

 

Among his promises to the Congolese people when he took power was to eradicate all armed groups operating in the country, especially in its eastern part. The aim was to restore peace and create a conducive environment for cross-border trade with neighbouring countries and contribute to peace and stability in the region thus promoting good neighborliness with its neighbours.

 

The presence of armed rebel groups in DRC is a problem that has prevailed for more than 30 years.

 

Foreign armed groups there include the FDLR, genocide fugitives from Rwanda. Besides FDLR, there are Ugandans – ADF – and Burundians, among others.

 

At the time of his election as President, Tshisekedi vowed to eradicate all armed groups without any exception and restore peace in the Kivus. Neighbouring countries, mostly Rwanda and Uganda, were hopeful that in the end, their neighbor had gotten a leader with political will to restore peace and security in the region.

 

Bilateral relations with Rwanda and Uganda were very good in the first three years of Tshisekedi’s presidency. Discussions were focused on supporting his efforts to restore peace and security and scaling up trade and investment partnerships to the benefit of all peoples.

 

It was all on the right path until Tshisekedi suddenly chose to cooperate with the FDLR and other armed groups for reasons yet to be unveiled. In Kinshasa, the bad blood is linked to the resurgence of the M23, which resumed its attacks in November 2021.

 

Tshisekedi told SADC leaders that his country is the victim of barbaric aggression by Rwanda. He did not tell them, however, that his country has – for decades – given a safe haven to masterminds of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. He did not tell them that his country’s millitary and political establishment has supported the DRC-based genocidal enterprise in its bid to return to Rwanda and finish the job it did not finish in 1994. He did not tell them that the genocidal force’s presence on his soil is the real issue causing anarchy in the region, as well as the cause of the tension with neighbouring Rwanda.

 

What Tshisekedi should understand is that, while he prefers to use any platform given to him to blame Rwanda for all his failures, regardless of the disconnect and absurdities in his allegations, one thing is certain. The SADC leaders are far from being ignorant and uninformed.

 

They can establish the truth of the matter from simple elements like, DRC post-independence political history,  the 1994 exodus of the then genocidal Rwandan army and machinery, the FAR and Interahamwe militia, into Zaire, facilitated by the French government and President Mobutu at the time. The FAR later became the FDLR and are now collaborating with the FARDC to fight the M23 which is another element well known by the Head of States.

 

The M23 is a local armed group composed of Congolese nationals. It is fighting for socio-political motives that they have clearly spelled out. Ignoring these facts and trying to distort them by referring to the M23 as a Rwandan constituent is not only politically wrong but also illogical from the DRC leaders.

 

Finding convenient excuses in blaming Rwanda for his own internal weaknesses will not solve the problems of DRC.

 

The M23 rebels fighting his government are Congolese, not Rwandans, just like the Mai-Mai factions and other armed groups. Rwanda’s only concern remains the Congolese leadership’s proven alliance with Genocide ideologues and terrorists.

 

Tshisekedi should not mislead SADC leaders.

He should know that Rwanda is fully committed to good neighbourliness and regional mechanisms to address the DRC's security problems. 

 

Deflecting from these facts is a deliberate attempt at sustaining the insecurity in eastern DRC and he should also be reminded that apart from few people who have benefitted from his largesse – mostly based in Kinshasa – the real electorate can see through his schemes and will not hesitate to show their displeasure on the ballot come 2023.

 

Tshisekedi’s tenure as SADC chairperson coincides with him defending his presidency in next year's general elections.