President Paul Kagame, on January 23, said that if anyone attempts to put Rwanda in a situation where it has to fight like it has nothing to lose, it will do so for the sake of protecting its people. He said this while delivering remarks at the 19th National Dialogue Council Umushyikirano, a forum in which Rwandans discuss issues of national importance including national development, unity, and youth empowerment. ALSO READ: Economic resilience, unity and youth leadership on agenda as Umushyikirano kicks off Speaking about security matters in the region, Kagame recounted how he, on previous occasions, emphasized that Rwanda is wrongly associated with the eastern DR Congo conflict. “Try to do some research, inquiries and intelligence, Rwanda did not, in any way, create this war that is happening in eastern Congo,” he said, “But with time, there has been an effort to make it our war; that we are the ones who started it.” ALSO READ: M23 accuses DR Congo army of targeting civilians with drone strikes A combination of hate speech and displacement of people held another ulterior motive of ethnic cleansing in the name of ending M23 rebellion which has been prevalent since 2012, by displacing Congolese people to Rwanda, according to Kagame. He pointed out different failed approaches used by the Congolese government to solve the internal insecurity issues whereby, they once invited leaders of armed groups in the country and hosted them in a hotel for about five months without any meeting or political dialogue until they left. Rather than solving the issue, he added, “different organizations write statements blaming Rwanda.” “You may associate us with M23 but what do you say about FDLR that has been in eastern Congo for the past 30 years? I thought the UN forces were put there to address this problem, among others. They have been there for decades; it [UN Mission] has been costly but the problem is still there.” ALSO READ: M23 warns of ‘imminent genocide’ in DR Congo Kagame explained how, on one occasion, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi tried to deny the presence of FDLR in eastern DR Congo and he gave him names of the militia group’s leaders and different locations where they were causing insecurity; especially blocking roads to demand taxes from locals. Various reports have, in the past, shed light on how the genocidal militia has expended much effort in tax collection from residents in controlled areas. ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: Understanding FDLR’s source of funding Kagame emphasized that he does not need permission to defend Rwanda, a country that suffered for so long when nobody extended help. He said: “Go home and sleep. There will be nothing crossing the borders of this small country of ours...where we have been 30 years ago, there is nothing worse that can happen to us. The 19th National Dialogue Council takes place as the country journeys on 30 years of rebuilding from ashes of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. “That means, if you ever put us in a situation where we think like it’s going back to that time, then, we have nothing to lose. We will fight like people who have nothing to lose. Someone will pay the price and that’s not us.”
