Late last year, I penned a column about what I believed was a naïve, myopic and unhelpful attitude from some of our Twitterati brothers from Kenya vis-à-vis the conflict in the eastern region of the DR Congo.
I spoke about a holier-than-thou brashness that was eerily reminiscent, in my view, of the way Western media and powerbrokers condescendingly speak to us, Africans. As I expected, my views weren’t well received from this online community.
I was labelled a troll, a shill and all sorts of other names. I didn’t respond on Twitter because I felt that, in a few months’ time, facts on the ground would serve as my riposte.
I wrote, and please forgive me for quoting myself, that the commentators were more concerned about geopolitical and economic concerns and not "the real issues plaguing the Congolese people as well as DR Congo’s neighbors. For them it was all about projecting power and regional influence”. Events on the ground are proving me correct.
Over the last few weeks, the M23 rebel group, heeding clauses in the Luanda Agreement, handed over captured territory to the Kenyan-led East African Force and withdrew from territories, starting with Kibumba and later, Rumangabo.
Furthermore, on the 12th of this month, leaders of the political wing of the rebels met with EAC mediator, Uhuru Kenyatta, in Mombasa as part of the nascent Nairobi peace process.
You’d think that the Twitter generals would be happy with this, albeit, slow progress. You’d be wrong.
Their latest complaint is that the EAC force isn’t fighting the M23. Never mind the fact that M23 is doing exactly what was agreed to by the region. All they care about is the fact that a certain Congolese segment is threatening to put the Kenyan armed forces contingent (and therefore Kenyans as a whole) in their ‘bad books’ à la Rwanda, Uganda and whoever else catches their ire.
It’s my view that these ‘generals’ believe that this vocal Congolese segment has the power to scuttle the business deals that can be, and have been already, signed between Kenyan companies and the DR Congo private and public sector. And truth be told, they are right. That is the challenge with hitching yourself to an unreliable partner such as the DR Congo presidency. It can, and will, constantly change its policy depending on the way the wind blows in the frenzied political climes of Kinshasa.
What I find particularly hilarious is the fact that Rwandans who try to engage with our Kenyan brothers online are then often tarred with the same brush as I was.
They are labelled ‘arrogant trolls on the payroll of the Rwandan government’. Ignoring the fact that many of them have engaged with the DR Congo issue for decades and as a result, have a wealth of experience dealing with it.
In fact, if news reports are to be believed, a mélange of Romanian mercenaries, FDLR and FARDC will soon launch an offensive against M23 positions as well as positions that they ceded to East African Community forces.
Hopefully, calmer heads will prevail but, to be honest, I’m doubtful. Nothing over the last couple of years has given me the confidence to believe that the Kinois politician and military class have the best interests of Nord Kivu and Sud Kivu at heart.
So, to the Twitter generals I say, sit tight. The game has just begun. It will be long. It will be arduous. And it will have twists and turns. And don’t be surprised if, at the end of it all, your nation joins Rwanda and becomes just the latest boogeyman. As I wrote last year, dealing with the DR Congo opens you up to a a tedious cycle of governance issues, small arms proliferation, militia groups, mining interests, geopolitical scrambles, corruption, citizenship challenges and conspiracy theories.