DRC presidential election: Anti Rwanda manifesto used to win votes

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) now counts months to hold general elections in which the incumbent President Félix Tshisekedi will be re-elected, or a successor declared winner.

At least three men already showed thirst for the presidency - Tshisekedi, Martin Fayulu, a businessman, and Dr Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist and winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

While preparations for the December 2023 elections are under way, the eastern part of the second largest African country is still suffering from 30-year-long hostilities. This is a region where more than 130 local and foreign armed groups reside, threatening the peace and security of DRC and neighboring countries.

The situation was worsened by the M23 or "March 23 Movement" – a Congolese rebel group that was defeated in 2013 but took up arms again in late 2021– and seized the town of Bunagana since June 2022.

To win Congolese’s hearts and minds, the presidential candidates have focused on the current crisis in eastern DRC, so as to convince citizens on how they can restore peace and security in the mineral rich country, yet the fourth poorest in the world, as reported by Global Finance.

However, instead of proposing solutions to end the internal conflicts, all of the candidates are pushing an anti-Rwanda manifesto. The blame game on Kigali’s alleged support to the M23 rebels persists.

Addressing the 77th UN General Assembly in September, Tshisekedi reignited allegations that Rwanda supports rebel groups on DRC’s territory.

"Despite my goodwill and the Congolese people's outstretched hand for peace, some of our neighbors find no way to thank us other than supporting armed groups.”

 Tshisekedi’s accusations are a political rhetoric aimed at ensuring that Congolese vote for him in the coming election.

Fayulu’s manifesto follows the same suit. On September 28, he released a letter entitled “Message au people Congolais en rapport avec l’intensification du projet de destabilization de notre pays,” in which he alleged that Rwanda is occupying the territory of DRC, and called for Congolese to defend themselves.

Dr Mukwege deserted his operating theatre and the victims of rape he often talks about and is now busy in political rallies which propagate anti-Rwanda views as well as hate speech against Congolese Tutsi communities.

This tactic is not new among Congolese politicians. After seizing power from Mobutu in 1997, Laurent-Désiré Kabila was accused by Congolese of becoming a dictator. Instead of changing his political agenda, he fuelled anti-Rwanda ideas and killings of Congolese Tutsi.

His son and successor, Joseph Kabila, later also followed his father’s footsteps.

He upped the anti-Rwanda agenda despite the fact that the opposition alleged he too was Rwandan. He used the tactic before 2005 and during the 2011 elections to win votes in the eastern region.

The anti-Rwanda agenda has never benefited the Congolese population. It only increases xenophobia and discrimination among citizens which leads to disputes in Congolese security forces, and formation of rebel groups as commanders defect from the national army.

For decades, different Congolese governments, have collaborated with the Interahamwe militia and ex-FAR, a genocidal cocktail now forming the FDLR and its other splinter groups. Their only aim is destabilizing Rwanda, or worse still, returning to capture power forcefully and completing the evil agenda – genocide against the Tutsi – that they were unable to, in 1994.