The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, on November 3, called his countrymen to ready for war against rebels he claims are backed by neighbouring Rwanda. Addressing the nation about the insecurity in the east of his country, Tshisekedi issued a call to arms, urging the country's youth to "organise themselves into vigilance groups" to support the army.

 

His address to the nation came soon after he expelled the Rwandan ambassador, accusing Kigali of supporting the M23 rebels who made fresh gains in the east of the troubled country.

 

Rwanda has denied supporting the rebels.

 

Tshisekedi ordered his military to accelerate the establishment of training centers throughout the 26 provinces of the country. The war imposed on his country requires the ultimate sacrifice, he said.

 

The nation needs the commitment of all its daughters and sons, Tshisekedi said. And that’s, partly, where the country’s problems lie. A man should not pursue dreams that he cannot ever achieve. Otherwise, it will end in frustration. Tshisekedi should pursue the path of truth if he really must avoid accelerating to his downfall. Above all, the Congolese leader must understand that going to war is really not his advantage point.

 

If he really cares about the commitment of all DRC's daughters and sons, he needs to acknowledge the fact that the rebels he is fighting are Congolese citizens with genuine concerns, and rights.

 

If he continues on the war path, his friends should give him a reality check. Tshisekedi inherited a very weak and dysfunctional army. He could have made some effort to improve salary payments to the soldiers but corruption and misuse of funds is still a challenge.

 

Sources say that the Congolese army, or FARDC, acts as an instrument of political patronage to co-opt rivals more than as a fighting force to provide security to the country. Despite its vast natural resource wealth, the country basically has no army. This partly explains why more than 18,000 UN troops contunue to pretend at keeping peace in DRC.

 

Poor training, low pay, a critical lack of esprit de corps, patriotism, and a culture of corruption and politicisation have, for long, hampered the operational effectiveness of the country’s army.

 

Rampant corruption, illegal activities and direct taxation of people they’re meant to protect are the order of the day.

 

 The soldiers still need to undertake offensive operations, without having the necessary equipment or even, at times, ammunition.

 

For three decades, eastern DRC has been home to numerous negative armed groups. Today, more than 130 local and foreign armed groups – including the FDLR, remnants  of the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda – operate from there. The Congolese army has never defeated them.

 

Despite having over 130,000 active personnel, FARDC’s capability is dubious considering its habitual defeats by small armed groups. Instead, Congolese army units have repeatedly backed armed groups implicated in serious abuse.

 

“Congolese army units are again resorting to the discredited and damaging practice of using abusive armed groups as their proxies,” Thomas Fessy, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.

 

“The Congolese government should end this support, which leads to military complicity in abuses, identify officers responsible, and hold them accountable.”

 

On May 8 and 9, leaders of several Congolese armed groups, some of them rivals, met in the remote town of Pinga and agreed to a non-aggression pact forming a “patriotic” coalition to join forces with the Congolese army against “the aggressor,” namely the M23. Two FDLR senior commanders were also present.

 

This reported military complicity in abuses committed by negative armed groups in the country is one good indicator that the Congolese army is too weak. Entire units in the Congolese army are suspected of war crimes.

 

Human Rights Watch received credible information that Congolese army officers provided boxes of ammunition to FDLR fighters in Kazaroho, one of their strongholds in the Virunga National Park, on July 21. Two months earlier, dozens of FDLR and CMC/FDP fighters reportedly took part in a large counteroffensive with government soldiers in the area around Rumangabo and Rugari. The FDLR militia committed countless rapes and other acts of sexual violence, killed hundreds of civilians over the years in eastern DRC, hacking them to death with machetes or hoes, or burning them in their homes.

 

And now Tshisekedi plans massive recruitment to boost FARDC numbers. Increasing the number of soldiers will add no value. It is not the numbers that win wars, but the commander's brain, and so much more that is lacking in the country’s system.

 

Mafia vultures and untrained officers

 

On October 31, an anonymous FARDC Colonel wrote an open letter to Tshisekedi, showing how their army’s failures resulted from entrusting command to ‘mafia vultures and untrained’ officers.

 

”Instead of equipping it (FARDC) with tanks, armored vehicles, combat helicopters, tactical drones and dapper new surveillance, you have spent millions of dollars to offer Jeeps to Deputies, Senators, members of clergy, generals of the army, thus weakening your own army,” reads the open letter.

 

“Doesn't it bother you to cry out against Rwanda's aggression in front of all international bodies when you do nothing to equip your armed forces in order to develop their operational capacities? For a country like the DRC, it's a shame.”

 

On many occasions, Congolese security forces were reported setting barriers for civilians, to cross after paying a bribe. They complain that their salaries are too small and irregular, making it difficult for them to survive.

 

The letter reminded Tshisekedi that the Generals constituting the elites of the army are supposed to have completed three cycles of officer training such as Military Academy, Staff Course, War School or Higher School of Military Administration. None of the Generals appointed to head the FARDC did any of these military schools.

 

In “This is Congo,” a film by Aljazeera, a senior FARDC officer said that as long as “Congolese leaders do not have patriotic sense, Congo will stick in the misery forever.” 

 

Released during resurgence of the M23, the film documents late Lt Col Mamadou Mustafa Ndala, the former commander of the 42nd battalion’s Rapid Reaction Force, who led the 2013 fight against the M23 in Goma when the rebels fled to Uganda and Rwanda.

 

Speculation remains that Mamadou was assassinated by rival commanders during the January 2014 counterinsurgency, highlighting the mistrust that permeates FARDC’s ranks.

 

Before his assassination, Mamadou told his compatriots that without unity they have nothing. He prophesized that the ongoing killings of Congolese Tutsi–in preparation of genocide against Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese –will escalate national insecurity as well as FARDC failures.

 

Some FARDC commanders formed factions, joined rebels as a result of divisionism in army. Others were assassinated because of their ‘Tutsi looking faces’.

 

Tshisekedi still has a chance to walk the diplomacy path before its too late. War is not his thing.