A Congolese politician has called on President Félix Tshisekedi to resolve the conflict with the AFC/M23 rebels through negotiation and stop shifting blame onto others.
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Speaking in an interview with 7sur7 Congo, on February 24, Ferdinand Kambere, the deputy permanent secretary of the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), dismissed Tshisekedi’s claims that neighbouring Rwanda, and his predecessor Joseph Kabila, were behind the Alliance Fleuve Congo rebellion.
Kambere also called out the Congolese president for skipping regional meetings meant to help find a lasting solution to the crisis in eastern DR Congo, where the rebels have seized swathes of territory including the key cities of Goma and Bukavu.
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Peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern DR Congo was among the key resolutions of the joint East African Community and Southern African Development Community leaders’ meeting held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on February 8.
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Another key element was the EAC-SADC leaders’ call for the implementation of an earlier approved harmonised plan for the neutralisation of FDLR, a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The genocidal militia poses an existential threat to Rwanda, the entire region, and especially to Congolese Tutsi communities it has been persecuting in eastern DR Congo, resulting in the ongoing crisis.
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"Even the SADC-EAC resolutions, Tshisekedi does not follow them. Even the UN resolution does not interest him,” Kambere said.
"He is only interested in the part where the M23 is told to withdraw, but not the part where he is asked to negotiate with the M23.”
The politician criticized Tshisekedi’s approach, emphasizing that the responsibility lies with the current government.
"Even the international community does not tell him that the M23 has demands? ... He is the one responsible,” he added.
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The M23 rebels resumed fighting in 2021, after nearly a decade of inactivity, in defence of the Kinyarwanda-speaking community which is persecuted, in eastern DR Congo.
But M23 is now a member of a larger rebel coalition, Alliance fleuve Congo, created in December 2023. The latter’s leaders have said they are undeterred to march to the capital, Kinshasa, as they aim to confront "poor governance and a failed state.” They have vowed to uproot tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other vices, widespread in DR Congo.
Kambere also cited agreements signed between Tshisekedi and M23 rebels in 2019. The rebels say Congolese armed forces attacked their positions in North Kivu in November 2021 as they were waiting for the agreement to be implemented and that led to the current conflict.
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The Congolese army and its allies, including FDLR - a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda – continue to oppress and kill civilians.
Despite AFC/M23 rebels expressing willingness to engage in peaceful negotiations, Tshisekedi has consistently refused direct talks with the group, saying they were a terrorist movement.
To end the crisis, Kambere urged Tshisekedi to address the security situation in eastern DR Congo without resorting to scapegoats.
"Let us stop deceiving people. ... Kabila only told him to discuss with the M23 because it was Tshisekedi who signed agreements with them,” Kambere stated.
"Why must the Congolese people suffer because of the agreements that Félix Tshisekedi signed, yet he continues to refuse to negotiate? Tshisekedi must resolve his problems with the M23 and Nangaa and stop looking for scapegoats.”
‘Babysitting Tshisekedi’
Bertrand Bisimwa, one of the to AFC/M23 leaders, on February 25, criticized the international community’s stance on the current crisis, arguing that external actors failed to hold the Congolese government to account for its refusal to end the conflict peacefully.
"Political statements from international organizations and states are increasingly calling for direct dialogue between Kinshasa and Goma—something we have been advocating for over four years. This would be a very positive step for peace in the east of the country,” Bisimwa said, referring to Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, as the rebellion’s stronghold.
Bisimwa accused the international community of enabling Tshisekedi’s refusal to engage in negotiations.
"The babysitting of these same organizations and states in favour of Kinshasa only serves to stubbornly entrench Mr. Tshisekedi and compromises this option. What sanctions are planned against Kinshasa, which refuses dialogue?” Bisimwa asked.