- Rwanda President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi feel the UN has not been successful in solving the conflict in the eastern DRC.
- The DRC wants a staggered withdrawal of UN forces at the end of their extended stay in December next year.
- Belgium, Germany and France have joined the US and UN in calling for Kagame to stop aiding the M23 rebels.
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have different narratives on the conflict in the eastern DRC which has strained their relations, but they agree on one thing, the UN peacekeeping force has been of no help.
Early this week, the UN Security Council lifted sanctions on the DRC government, giving it the power to procure guns for its national army.
A welcome move, but the extension of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC’s Monusco mandate by a further year was met with less enthusiasm.
Monusco has been in the DRC for 22 years.
There are reports in central Africa there was anger and disappointment in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, about the extension of the Monusco’s term by a year.
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In July, there were public protests about Monusco’s failure as North Kivu remained a hotbed of insurgents by local community militias known as the “Mai Mai” and larger terrorist groups such as the M23 rebels.
The masses wanted Monusco to withdraw and that was still the sentiment.
In a statement, the DRC government said the country was still looking forward to the forces’ total withdrawal after the one-year extension.
The DRC’s information ministry said in a statement:
[The] government takes note of the extension of the mandate of the Mission of the United Nations Organisation for Stabilisation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Monusco] for one year while reaffirming its determination to pursue the implementation of the gradual and staggered withdrawal plan in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Congolese people.
Rwanda also voiced its disappointment with Monusco in the east DRC, calling it a waste of resources.
“It is worth recalling that a United Nations peacekeeping operation, currently under Monusco has been present in eastern DRC for more than 22 years, at the cost of over US$1 billion a year with little tangible results,” Rwanda said.
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Rwanda also alleges because of Monusco’s failure, it was being blamed for the chaos in DRC by the international community.
“Blaming Rwanda presents an unwillingness on the part of the international community to face up to the root causes of the conflict in [the] eastern DRC and to demand true accountability from the state and non-state actors who are responsible for the resulting legacy of failure,” it said.
At the US Africa Leaders’ Summit, Rwanda President Paul Kagame came face-to-face with the accusation on his country for the conflict in the eastern DRC.
The US and the UN have both openly placed the blame on Kagame.
Early this week, France, Germany, and Belgium added their voices to calls for Kagame to stop working with the M23 rebels.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.