Rwanda-DRC: DRC once again accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 (press release)

The Congolese government has once again accused Rwanda of supporting the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebel movement fighting the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a statement from the Congolese government released on October 25, 2022 says. Congolese authorities also directly denounced Rwandan President Paul Kagame. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The Congolese government was reacting to a press release from the Rwandan government issued the day before and which rejected outright the accusations of providing help to M23.

“The content of the press release reveals that Rwanda clearly and irrefutably acknowledges its support for the M23 rebels,” reads the statement signed by Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, Minister of Communication and Media and spokesman for the Congolese government.

The DRC accuses the Rwandan President, Paul Kagame personally. It stresses that he( Kagame ) has an “attitude which sufficiently demonstrates his strategy of permanently interfering in the internal affairs of the DRC” to maintain a climate of terror in the east of this Central Africa’s vast nation.

Rwanda is accused of breaching its commitments made in Nairobi (Kenya), Luanda (Angola) and New York in the various peace processes about the dismantling of rebel groups on Congolese soil, including the M23.

The Congolese government denounces what it calls “dishonest rhetoric” by Rwanda and its military activities on Congolese soil and recalls that “Rwanda’s interventionist and expansionist ambitions will never be tolerated”.

The Rwandan government has repeatedly rejected the accusations from RD Congo.

In its press release, Rwanda reiterates its commitment to a secure, peaceful and stable solution in the regional context despite the provocations of the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo).

So far, the M23 has controlled the border town of Bunagana since June 13 this year, in addition to several other localities in Rutshuru territory in the eastern Congo province of North Kivu.