Can the African Union find solution to DRC internal, external aggressions?

Fresh from a chaotic general election that saw President Felix Tshisekedi win a Constitutional second and final term of office, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces challenges with its eastern region’s boiling port.

The Kinshasa establishment might have used its entire means including force to quell the post-election protests organized by supporters of Presidential losers, Moise Katumbi and Martin Fayulu in a way of rejecting the results that returned Tshisekedi as President, but trouble keeps rising from the eastern part.

After the East African Community (EAC) joint force withdrew from the DRC after President Tshisekedi declined to renew its mandate in December last year, the M23 rebels have re-launched their bombardment of the government forces. DRC had accused the force of not only being ineffective but even of colluding with rebels, open the borders of the country to troops contributed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

According to SADC, the Southern African Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) was deployed on December 15, 2023 to support Tshisekedi’s government desire to restore peace and security in the eastern part of the country.

“As part of the SAMIDRC, a SADC regional force from the Republics of Malawi, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania and elements of the DRC Armed Forces are working with the Congolese Army, the Forces Armees de la Republic Democratique du Congo (FARDC), in fighting armed groups operating in the Eastern DRC,” read a statement on the SADC website. 

President Tshisekedi is using the DRC’s membership in both EAC and SADC to find what he looks at as best allies in solving the security situation in the eastern part of the country. It may be only the M23 picking up the arms to fight again, but the region has been known for several other forces in the past and it is not clear whether they abandoned rebellion.

To qualify President Tshisekedi’s skepticism about the EAC joint forces presence in DRC, his government has in recent weeks pointed fingers at neighbours Rwanda, accusing Kigali of funding the M23 rebels. As recent as last weekend, the Congolese government accused Rwanda of masterminding drone attacks on the Airport in Goma, the capital of the north Kivu province.

The accusations came after a bomb blast was reported early Saturday at the Goma International Airport in North Kivu province amid ongoing fighting between M23 rebels and government forces.

“The Rwandan army drones targeted aircraft of FARDC (DR Congo army), in the wee hours of Saturday,” said army spokesperson in North Kivu province, Guillaume Djike Kaïko, as quoted in several media outlets on Sunday.

Kaiko revealed that the FARDC fighter jets parked at the Goma International Airport were not hit by the blasts but damages were recorded on the private passenger aircrafts.

In recent days, FARDC fighter jets have been targeting M23 bases near Goma, a town that is likely to get deserted once again as thousands continue to run for their lives as fighting intensifies.

Rwanda has continuously denied having a hand in the M23 resurgence but has been accusing its neighbours, DRC of trying to influence regime change back in Kigali.

With troops deployed in eastern DRC to pursue the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorists, Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) has denied involvement in the ongoing battles between FARDC and M23 rebels, according to a statement issued by Brig Felix Kulaigye, the army spokesperson.

Brig Kulaigye was responding to utterances by Julius Mulumba, Spokesperson of DRC based outfit, Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) also known as Wazalendo, that the UPDF is involved in the fighting in Rutshuru territory.

“The UPDF takes exception against upon the falsehoods being spread by Mr Julius Mulumba that the UPDF is in Rutshuru. In an attempt to authenticate his desperate claims, he uses photos of our forces that were part of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF). The picture was taken when Uganda’s contingent to EACRF was in Tsengero general areas on the Bunagana-Rutshuru to Goma axis and note Sake,” said Brig Kulaigye.

AU efforts

Last week, the African Union held a mini-summit on the conflict in the DRC in the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa. The summit was called by the President of Angola, Joao Lourenco the AU designated mediator on peace and security situation in eastern DRC, was attended by President William Ruto of Kenya, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Tshisekedi of DRC and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, among others.

Details of the discussions at the mini-summit and what could have been resolved remain scant. However, a video posted on X by Tina Salama, Spokesperson of DRC President Tshisekedi on February 18, 2024 shows some people in the gallery holding high placards inscribed on “Stop Genocide” at the opening of the 37^th Ordinary Assembly of the AU in Addis Ababa.

Looking to leverage on the conflict to rebuild his opposition base, former Presidential candidate Fayulu also took to X to rally the AU to stop the genocide in DRC which he alleges is perpetrated by Rwanda and Uganda.

“It is incomprehensible that the African Union (AU) has still not formally condemned Rwanda and Uganda following the aggression against the DRC which caused an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy in the east of the DRC. Do we still have to kill or displace how many millions of Congolese for the AU to be moved and decide to intervene to stop the massacres? It is equally incomprehensible that the AU does not condemn the electoral putschists in the DRC and demands respect for the democratic rules set out in the Constitution and the electoral law,” posted Fayulu.

Rwanda hits back

In a statement issued on Monday February 19, the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed dismay about what it called “abandonment” of the Luanda (Angolan Capital) and Nairobi (Kenyan Capital) processes by the government of the DRC. Kigali has also called out the international community’s indifference to “DRC’s dramatic military build-up”.

“DRC has launched massive combat operations in North Kivu, in contravention of the decisions of regional mechanisms, and clearly aims to expel M23 and Congolese Tutsi civilians into neighbouring countries, working in concert with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan ethnic militia which is directly linked to the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The recent M23 advances are due to the DRC’s decision to expel the East African Community Regional Force in December 2023, which oversaw ceasefire and withdrawal efforts,” the statement read in part.

Rwanda added that the DRC government has the obligation to protect the Congolese Tutsi but heaped blame on President Tshisekedi, saying he has failed to heal the existing wounds among this ethnic community.

“Hate speech and crude tribalism have become the currency of Congolese politics under the administration of President Felix Tshisekedi, and ethnic discrimination and targeted arrests and killings have become routine. FDLR is fully integrated into the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), as repeatedly documented by the UN Group of Experts,” added the statement.

Kigali was responding to a statement issued by the United States Department of State on February 17, 2024 accusing Kagame’s government of backing the M23 a US and UN sanctioned armed group. The US alleged that Rwanda has a hand in the recent incursion of the M23 in the town of Sake.

“This escalation has increased the risk to millions of people already exposed to human rights abuses including displacement, deprivation, and attacks. We call on the M23 to immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from its current positions around Sake and Goma and in accordance with the Luanda and Nairobi processes. The United States condemns Rwanda’s support for the M23 armed group and calls on Rwanda to immediately withdraw all Rwandan Defence Forces personnel from the DRC and remove its surface-to-air missile systems, which threaten the lives of civilians, UN and other regional peacekeepers, humanitarian actors, and commercial flights in eastern DRC,” read part of the statement issued by Mathew Miller, Spokesperson of Department of State.

Rwanda, however, has hit back saying the US is not alive to the facts on the ground and asked Washington to revisit the spirit in which the Department of State issued the statement at the weekend. The Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the statement by the US government distorts the realities on DRC government’s threat to invade Rwanda and change its government.

“Rwanda takes them at their word, and has adjusted our posture accordingly. This includes measures to ensure complete air defence of Rwanda territory, and to degrade offensive air capabilities, following the introduction of advance Chinese CH-4 attack drones by DRC in 2023, and repeated violations of Rwanda air space by Congolese fighter jets” the statement noted.

It added that; “Rwanda will seek clarification from the US government to ascertain whether its statement represents an abrupt shift in policy, or simply lack of internal coordination.  

It was the US Department of State which in December 2001 added FDLR-then known as ‘ALIR a.k.a Interahamwe, ex-FAR’- to the Terrorist Exclusion List under the provisions of the Patriotic Act, after the group murdered, and in some cases raped, eight Western tourists in Bwindi, Uganda, including two Americans”

Kigali also expressed discomfort with the US characterization of FDLR as an “armed group” but not a terrorist group as originally was, saying such a move is a “shocking and cynical act of realpolitik” hence dismissing President Joe Biden’s government position as a credible mediator in the Great Lakes Region.