EngRegional
DRC: Why the M23 rebellion will overcome
The
March 23 Movement or ‘M23’ is a Congolese rebel group.
Since
late 2021, the rebels have amassed worldwide attention, with most people condemning
the rebellion’s fight and blaming them for the insecurity crisis in eastern DRC.
But
despite the pouring criticism from Kinshasa, UN, international community and
media, the M23 continues to fight off attacks perpetrated by the Congolese army
and other armed groups including the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR.
The
rebels captured swathes of territory in North Kivu which they have, in the
interest of peace, have handed over to the East African Community Regional
Force (EACRF).
The
rebels have shown a level of maturity that got Kinshasa and others who don’t
understand their cause frustrated or even baffled.
Kinshasa
is especially vexed by the fact that the M23 rebels are not being defeated but
are, instead gaining political clout. There is only one logical reason for
this. The M23 is fighting for a genuine cause.
The
rebel group is fighting for the rights of its persecuted and disowned community
to be recognized as legitimate citizens with full rights as any other Congolese
nationals. They are defending and protecting the lives of Congolese Tutsi and
Rwandophones who have been, for long, targets of hate speech and violence
orchestrated by their own government. So far, thousands have died or fled their
homes in eastern DRC.
To
quote the famous American engineer Gene Kranz: “It is not equipment that wins
the battles; it is the quality and the determination of the people fighting for
a cause in which they believe.”
For
the M23 rebels, their rights, and lives of Kinyarwanda-speaking communities,
especially the Tutsi Congolese are worth fighting for, and dying for, if that’s
what it takes for their government or the international community to listen.
The
M23 is not an armed group plundering minerals, or terrorizing citizens, as
often accused, but rather people fighting for a noble cause and their rights in
a country that has denied them everything.
According
to several reports, since 2022, several senior officers from the Congolese
national army have defected to M23.
In
October 2022, Lt Col Eustache Ntambara defected, followed by Lt Col Désire
Gakufe Ndizihiwe in November 2022. Four other officers namely; Lt Col Bahati
Gahizi, Lt Col Frank Miburo Nkusi, Maj Zidane and Lt Muhire, defected in
December 2022.
In
February 2023, Col Moisse Gakunzi, Maj Kimararungu, and Capt Vedaste Murenzi,
equally left their posts in FARDC to join the M23 rebels.
The
most recent defections, in March 2023, are; Lt Col John Gasasira N'tawenda, who
was working for Kinshasa’s military intelligence. He left with two of his
compatriots, Maj Sadiki and Maj Amani Patrick.
The
M23 is not a terrorist movement as Kinshasa says. It is a Congolese rebel
group, which took up arms to fight for a legitimate cause.
Having
Congolese senior officers defecting to a so-called terrorist armed group refutes
a different narrative that Kinshasa has been advancing.
Since
2012, the Congolese government has refused to honor any of the agreements
signed to solve M23’s grievances.
The
Congolese government officers who defected realized that the real fight is not
in killing their own compatriots, but in fighting their traitor government.
This
should come as a wakeup call to Kinshasa.
The
Congolese government aught to take bold steps in solving the insecurity crisis
in the east of the country.
