Regional
DRC: Tshisekedi should be held accountable for the carnage in Goma
Congolese
President Félix Tshisekedi is responsible for the Congolese national army's
shooting on unarmed protestors on August 30, which claimed at least 48 deaths.
More
than 60 others were injured while over 220 were arrested, following crackdown
on an anti-UN protest in Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province in the east
of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The protest
was organized by a group called the Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards
the Nations, known colloquially as Wazalendo. Its supporters planned to
demonstrate against the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) and the
United Nations peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO).
A source
in Goma who preferred anonymity told The
Great Lakes Eye that the shooting on
protesters was ordered by the Military Governor of North Kivu, Lt Gen Constant
Ndima Kongba. Then, the national army elements indiscriminately opened fire on
the protesters.
As a
government and military official, it is safe to say that Gen Ndima acted upon
Tshisekedi’s commands, as the latter is the Commander-in-Chief of Congolese
armed forces.
Images
of Congolese soldiers dragging corpses and piling them into a lorry caused a
public outcry surfacing on social media but Congolese army and government
spokesman in North Kivu Lt Col Kaiko Ndjike said that the "defense forces
had acted professionally."
It is
obvious that the soldiers who opened fire on unarmed civilians do not feel
guilty for their cowardice. In the meantime, Tshisekedi is trying to fool the Congolese
people and international community by arresting just a few military officials,
pretending to fight impunity.
The
real perpetrator of bloodshed in Goma is Tshisekedi and he should be held
accountable.
It is
not the first time the Congolese President uses militia and protestors to
attack the UN mission and EAC regional force.
Since
at least July 2022, Tshisekedi plotted demonstrations against peacekeepers in eastern
DRC, accusing them of failing to restore peace.
He
wants the peacekeepers to attack the M23 rebels, which is not their mandate.
At
least 36 people, including four UN peacekeepers, died in 2022 as hundreds of
protesters vandalised and set fire to UN buildings in several eastern DRC cities.
UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in August that MONUSCO embarked on a
withdrawal plan, which will put an end to one of the longest and most expensive
peacekeeping missions. That was despite leaving armed groups in the east of the
country having multiplied from five in the 1990s to over 260 in 2023.
On the
other hand, EAC Heads of State on September 5 extended the mandate of the
regional force in DRC by further three months to December 8, 2023, to help
consolidate the gains made.
The Secretary
General of EAC, Peter Mathuki, has called for an "independent
investigation" on the mass killing in Goma.
Tshisekedi’s
wish is that peacekeepers exit the region so that the December presidential election
can be delayed, with insecurity as a pretext.
He is
sacrificing his own people in eastern DRC for personal gain.
Tshisekedi
mobilized Congolese youth to create the Wazalendo among other groups which are
sometime armed and disrupt the peace.
The
groups are not only on the frontlines of demonstrations against peacekeepers in
eastern DRC, but also persecuting Congolese Tutsi.
So, why
did he order his army to open fire on protestors? Tshisekedi wants to confuse the
Congolese and the international community about the factors behind the escalating
violence in eastern DRC yet he is the troublemaker.