DR Congo, Rwanda Agree to Maintain ‘Political Dialogue’

DR Congo, Rwanda Agree to Maintain ‘Political Dialogue’

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have decided to use political means to try to end the military escalation.

This is one of the significant decisions that resulted from a meeting of the foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda that was hosted by the Angolan Minister of External Relations in Luanda, Angola.

While fighting between the M23 rebels and the Congolese army in North Kivu is at its worst, the heads of diplomacy of Rwanda and the DRC promised to preserve “political engagement.”

A whopping 200,000 people have already been displaced due to fighting, according to data provided by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. But according to the UN, since October 20, 50,000 people have been displaced by violence between the FARDC and the M23, 12,000 of whom have sought sanctuary in Uganda.

Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula, Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, and Angolan Minister of External Relations all agreed in a single statement that the parties must move more quickly to follow the roadmap from July 6 of this year. On that day, President Tshisekedi and President Kagame of Rwanda met in a summit hosted by President Joo Lourenço of Angola, the African Union’s designated mediator between Kinshasa and Kigali.

called for a cease-fire

A cease-fire between the M23 and the FARDC as well as the M23’s evacuation from their positions had been ordered by the tripartite summit. The 6 July trilateral summit’s recommendations were never put into action as fighting grew more intense and the M23 gained territory by taking over other North Kivu locales.

Following the meeting on July 6, the DRC-RWANDA Permanent Joint Commission met in Luanda on July 21 and 22. On November 5, 2022, the ministers of Rwanda and the DRC decided to deploy a joint ad hoc verification mechanism in Goma, North Kivu, as well as to carry out the pledges made at all prior sessions.

Following fresh conflict between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels, who returned in 2021, eight years after being militarily vanquished by the Congolese army, the DRC and Rwanda are currently at odds.

Accusations

While Rwanda accuses the DRC of aiding the FDLR rebels who are alleged to have participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the DRC counters that Rwanda supports the M23 militants. The Rwandan ambassador was removed from the DRC a week ago.

There are more and more requests for communication between Kinshasa and Kigali in the area. Resuming the Nairobi negotiations between Congo and the various armed factions in eastern DRC has been demanded by the UN and numerous other regional organizations. Kinshasa is being urged by the East African Community to bring the M23 back into the peace process. The DRC has established a need for the M23’s removal from its present location.

Due to the restart of the violence, Kinshasa authorities had banned the M23 from the Nairobi process. The DRC has since designated the M23 as a “terrorist movement.”