War in Eastern Congo : Kinshasa suspends relations with Kigali which doesn’t care

Kinshasa announced Saturday evening the recall of all its diplomats to Kigali and asked Rwanda to cease all diplomatic and consular activities. Rwandan Diplomacy Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe responded in a message he shared on his X account (formerly Twitter) that the last Rwandan diplomat still stationed in Kinshasa had left Congo “while he was under permanent threats” from Congolese officials. Olivier Nduhungirehe described the statement from the Congolese authorities as a “note verbale”.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The decision by the Congolese authorities came a day after a security meeting chaired by Head of State Félix Tshisekedi, along with senior military and police officials and Congolese secret services. Representatives of the allied armies of the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) also took part in this meeting. In its statement, Kinshasa pledged to respect all diplomatic procedures and ensure an orderly transition of this decision.

This is particularly the result of the death of the military governor of North Kivu, Major General Peter Cirimwami.

In a message he shared on his X account (formerly Twitter), Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwandan minister in charge of diplomacy, described the press release as a “note verbale”. Nduhungirehe revealed that the last Rwandan diplomat still based in Kinshasa had left Congo “while he was under constant threats from Congolese officials”.

In the meantime, South Africa announced the death of nine of its soldiers in the fighting around the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu. Seven belong to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) force while two others were assigned to MONUSCO, the UN mission in Congo that Rwandan President Paul Kagame calls a “useless mission”.

A patrol of war tanks from the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, not far from the city of Goma, January 2025 (SOS Médias Burundi)

A statement from the South African army released Saturday indicates that they were killed during fierce fighting with the M23, during which the rebels were pushed back as they tried to take control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu and the main city in the east of the vast central African country. In an interview with France 24, Patrick Muyaya, spokesman for the Congolese government, recently declared that “war with Rwanda is an option under consideration”.

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Displaced people flee again to the city of Goma to seek shelter as fighting continues between the FARDC and its allies and the M23 rebels, January 2025 (SOS Médias Burundi)