This part of the DRC is currently troubled by the M23 rebels supported by Kigali since their resurgence in 2022. During his meeting with his Angolan counterpart, Joao Lourenço, on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, in Luanda, the Angolan capital, the Congolese president, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, had agreed to meet with the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. This was reported to the press by the Angolan foreign affairs minister, Tete Antonio. The Rwandan leader also gave his principal agreement for such a meeting. It is now up to the mediation to work for the materialization of this meeting, the head of Angolan diplomacy had specified, whose country has been designated by the African Union as mediator in the conflict opposing the two neighbors.

Since the resumption of hostilities between the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), Rwanda has been accused of fueling this Tutsi-aligned rebellion. Kinshasa also accuses Kigali of waging an economic war by plundering the mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo using alibis such as the presence in Congo of Rwandans from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). "The [looting] accusation is not new, but it is becoming increasingly audible," says Jean-Baptiste Placca, a political commentator on RFI (Radio France Internationale). In the war of the AFDL of Laurent-Désiré Kabila to oust a dictator, Marshal Mobutu, whose fate saddened no one anymore, "our Rwandan and Ugandan friends had discovered a country with an all too tempting underground, resulting in a gluttony that never ceased since," explains the 71-year-old commentator.

A dialogue of the deaf…

While the United States, France, Belgium, and other countries of the international community advocated dialogue, Félix Tshisekedi favored a military solution after noting with weariness the "vicious circle" of previous dialogues engaged in the past with rising M23 rebellions, namely the RCD of Azarias Ruberwa Maniwa and the CNDP of Laurent Nkundabatware Mihigo. All these rebellions were sponsored by Paul Kagame's Rwanda.

After eight years of dormancy, the M23 suddenly woke up in November 2021, routing the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). Attempts at a counteroffensive have so far not succeeded. And for nearly two months, the M23 has been intensifying its military pressure on the regional capital of North Kivu, Goma. This is despite reinforcements from SADC and Burundian troops. However, a nearly impregnable lock has been placed in the rampart city of Sake by the Congolese army and its supporters.

For two months, the M23 launched assaults against this lock but to no avail. The rebels have decided to turn northwards, swelling less protected localities like Rwindi or Vitshumbi where they entered without fighting. Internationally, several states and organizations are calling on the President of the Republic, Félix Tshisekedi, to engage in dialogue with Rwanda. The United States, France, and Great Britain have stated that this security crisis cannot be solved by arms. A diplomatic approach is better. But this dialogue risks being one of the deaf as long as both parties refuse to make progress. Kigali still stands its ground, accusing Kinshasa of supporting the Rwandan rebels of the FDLR. A prerequisite should be met by Kigali before this summit meeting. Washington recently called on Rwanda to stop its support of the M23 and to withdraw its troops from the DRC, something that Paul Kagame's regime has refused to do. Yet, this is also a condition set by Kinshasa to begin any dialogue. If positions remain unchanged, the two parties are likely not to agree.

Tshisekedi wants definitive peace

To date, the multiple denunciations made by President Félix Tshisekedi about this latest "Rwandan aggression" are creating a form of leveling of knowledge among many Congolese regarding this issue that has lasted for 30 years. Félix Tshisekedi seeks to achieve a permanent peace, not one of mere convenience. "One senses in Félix Tshisekedi a secret desire to unite his people against their predators of whom he is not at all afraid. He wants to show that his people are no longer as vulnerable as they were in the past. Something that Paul Kagame interprets as belligerent intentions," relates Jean-Baptiste Placca.

The Congolese are no longer willing to watch – petrified – as Rwanda feasts on their soil with a procession of deaths in the total indifference of the international community. This justifies Tshisekedi's battle for the lifting of the arms embargo that weighed on a country yet threatened by various conflicts. Félix Tshisekedi has also increased the budget allocated to the army by 300%, raising it to more than one billion US dollars. A national awakening that, clearly, worries Rwanda.

Dido Nsapu