North Kivu : timid demonstration against President Macron’s arrival in the DRC
A demonstration has been organized in Goma this Thursday since the morning hours. Citizen movements and pressure groups are protesting against the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The event was boycotted by leaders of citizen movements and pressure groups who recall that France helped to lift the arms embargo in the DRC. INFO SOS Médias Burundi
On the banners of the demonstrators, we could read : “no to the arrival of Macron in the DRC”, “France is a hypocritical partner”, “Macron equal-Rwanda, Macron equal- M23”.
The demonstrators went down to the sports circle of Goma (capital of North Kivu) then to the French Institute.
In their hands, they waved a flag of France which they burned in front of the French Institute.
According to Espoir Aspirine, an activist with Lucha (Fight for Change), the arrival of the French president “is a danger for the DRC which is facing the Rwandan aggression”.
“We do not agree with his arrival because France is a dangerous nation. You know what France is doing in Mali and everywhere. So it can be the turn of the DRC. We reiterate : no and no to the arrival of Macron in the DRC”, insisted Espoir Aspirine.
For Aristote Amani of the Veranda Mutsanga, Emmanuel Macron has the sole objective: to concretize the balkanization in Congo.
“Everyone wants to have coltant, gold, diamonds, cassiterite, and other richnesses of the DRC. The Balkanization of Congo is a plan of the international community. Macron is also in this plan, which is why he is trying to figure out how to convince Congolese leaders. We are not going to accept that our country is divided forever”, he said.
With regard to the security issue which is deteriorating in the province of North Kivu, these demonstrators are asking Congolese authorities to “take their responsibility in hand to stem the insecurity”.
“All of these are the misdeeds of the war imposed on us by Rwanda and other countries in the region. Thousands of Congolese have lost their lives in the atrocities. Congolese authorities must take this matter in hand and then end the war in the eastern part of the DRC. And if it is a question of defeating the war, we are ready to go even to Rwanda to wage a serious war with Kagame”, explained Héritier Nyamwami, one of the organizers of the event.
The French president has organized a trip to several countries in Central Africa, including the DRC.
The arrival of Emmanuel Macron in the DRC divides actors of citizens’ movements
The demonstration against the arrival of the French president in the DRC scheduled for this Thursday gave birth to a mouse.
Leaders of citizen movements were conspicuous by their absence. Among them, Sankara Bin Kartumwa.
This Lucha activist in the city of Goma finds it unfounded that the Congolese are braving the streets to turn their backs on a country that helped lift the arms embargo in the DRC.
“Some of us think that Emmanuel Macron should be blocked because he is financing a country that is attacking us. We, we are among those who think that it is impossible because if there was the embargo which weighed against our country, France played a key role in protecting the interests of the DRC. But also we continue to believe that refusing Emmanuel Macron to arrive in Congo is to clear the government of Felix of all its mediocrities”, said Mr. Kartumwa.
“Emmanuel Macron is just the fever. We must attack the germs. It is the Congolese government that is a microbe. The government must be reminded that meeting its commitments to improve the situation of the Congolese is not negotiable.
“Emmanuel Macron is just the fever. We must attack the germs. It is the Congolese government that is a microbe. The government must be reminded that meeting its commitments to improve the situation of the Congolese is not negotiable. Authorities must at least take advantage of the arrival of the French president to prevail, which is right, and make him our ambassador for everything that is happening in the country. We must negotiate a win-win partnership with France”, said this Lucha activist.
Rwanda has always denied accusations that it supports the M23. This former Tutsi rebellion which took up arms again at the end of 2021 accusing Congolese authorities of not having respected their commitments on the reintegration of its fighters has recovered several areas in three territories of the province of North Kivu in the east of the country, including the city of Bunagana, border with Uganda. Military authorities of this province have announced the opening of certain important axes in the areas under rebel control.
“The axes remain controlled by the rebels. If the authorities announce that they are passable again, no doubt that there have been negotiations between the rebels and the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo), analyzes a local journalist.
Since the resurgence of the M23, Congolese authorities have refused to dialogue with this movement which they describe as “terrorist”.
