4 simple facts to understand the end of the diplomatic honeymoon between Kinshasa and Kigali.

Triggers

The Congolese government has already been living for more than 100 days under the stress of seeing the city of Bunagana, as it was not enough, The M23 (“March 23 Movement”),  a former Tutsi rebellion that  took up arms again at the end of 2021 decided that Bunagana was insufficient, on Saturday, October 29 this rebel movement decided to advance a little more and seize the two Kiwanja towns    and Rutshuru-centre, located in North Kivu province.

The reaction of the Congolese government

Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the DRC, led in Kinshasa “an expanded meeting of the High Defense Council”, to assess the situation after “a series of attacks” carried out by the M23 “supported by the Rwandan army”, said government spokesman Patrick Muyaya in a statement read on official television.

Therefore, he added, “the High Defense Council asks the government to expel within 48 hours of its notification Mr. Vincent Karega”, Rwanda’s ambassador to the DRC, due in particular to “the persistence of his country in attacking the DRC”.

Faced with this diplomatic break, the reaction of the Kigali government was not long in coming, in an official statement, it deplores the reaction of Kinshasa.

For Rwanda, the inability to secure the Congo has nothing to do with Rwanda, diplomatically treating the Congolese government as incompetent.

This diplomatic break symbolized by the expulsion of the Rwandan ambassador to the DRC was welcomed by the opposition and civil society, which had been demanding for a few months already the complete diplomatic break with Rwanda.

The UN’s response

If the question of the presence of the UN on Congolese soil has become over the years a thorny debate because the mission to protect civilians seems to be beyond their means, with regard to this new tension, MONUSCO, said it had raised the alert status of its troops in the face of the M23 offensive. It has deployed in air support, intelligence and other equipment as part of their support to the FARDC.

War-torn populations hope this is not yet another media statement just to appease people’s minds.

The reaction of the African Union

The African Union, the European Union and the UN insist that regional organizations including the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) be involved in the resolution of this crisis between the DRC and Rwanda, however it must be remembered that no sanctions at  the African level have been put in place for almost 20 years. There are countless non-respected agreements to bring peace. The latest is  the Luanda agreement, Indeed, President Lourenco had been mandated to mediate between the DRC and Rwanda, inthis framework, he continues his efforts in today’s circumstances.   Moreover, 24 hours after the announcement of the decision, Félix Tshisekedi received on October 30,  2022 Téte António, Angolan Minister of External Relations, the emissary sent by Angolan President João Lourenço.  The diplomat was to exchange with the Congolese  Head of State on the evolution of the situation in the territory of Rutshuru and transmit to the Congolese President a correspondence from President João Lourenço.

In conclusion, we must remember that the end of the diplomatic honeymoon is only the beginning that we must complicate the game in the face of an enemy who is in total denial of reality.