Published on: 08.05.2022 – 16:21
Felix Tshisekedi’s electoral strategies have been criticized following the report of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which alleges that Rwanda has launched military interventions on Congolese soil in recent months and has provided the M23 with troop reinforcements. In the political class in general and in the opposition in particular, we expect a change of attitude from the government.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
For Juvénal Munubo, Member of the National Assembly’s Defense and Security Commission, this report shows once again the importance of the United Nations’ role in restoring peace to the region. The work of the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region was not sufficient proof of this. It took the intervention of UN experts to publicize Rwanda’s involvement in the M23 resurgence.
According to him, the government must seize international justice with this report. At diplomatic level, he considers it necessary to reassess the implementation of the roadmap of the process agreed in Luanda between Kigali and Kinshasa.
One gets the impression that the DRC is the least of the great powers’ concerns. And we allow neighboring countries to carry out activities on our territory (…) to destabilize our country. The international community must also help us put an end to this activism by armed groups supported by neighboring countries.
Billy Kambale, Secretary General of the National Citizens’ Union
Opposition MP Delly Sesanga, leader of the Envol party, agrees Félix Tshisekedi’s bilateral approaches to Rwanda and Uganda have been risky and fruitlessundertaken with the sole aim of compensating for the regime’s lack of internal legitimacy. He denounces “an economic-commercial approach, badly thought out, badly planned and badly programmed”. According to him, more attention should be paid to multilateral diplomacy for overall stability in the subregion. He also insists on a greater role for the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which has always championed the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For his part, Martin Fayulu, a former presidential candidate, accuses the government of “distraction” and expects tough measures from it, such as the immediate expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador based in Kinshasa. He also mentions the urgency to reform and more resource the Congolese army.
We await the expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador to the DRC, we await the severance of diplomatic relations, until Rwanda returns to good feelings and commits to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC. (…) We want strong measures.
Jean-Baptiste Kasekwa, National MP, Deputy General Secretary of Martin Fayulu’s Ecidé party
► Also read: Rwandan attacks in the DRC: “The United Nations has recognized what we have been saying for years”