President Paul Kagame has spoken out on the exit of the East African Regional Force (EACRF) and the deployment of the SADC mission (SADMIR) in eastern DR Congo. In early 2023, the East African Community (EAC) deployed the (EACRF) to the conflict-hit region, a development that led to a ceasefire from March to September 2023. However, in December of the same year, the DR Congo government decided to expel the EACRF and replaced it with the SADC mission which is operating under an offensive mandate. ALSO READ: DR Congo: Rwanda protests AU’s non-inclusive move to endorse SADC mission The African Union (AU) has since met and endorsed the SADMIR, pledging support for the mission. In an interview with NTV Kenya aired on Thursday, March 14, Kagame said he was surprised by the development and “how the countries involved can be involved on such a glaringly wrong side.” Pointing at the fact that the EACRF’s mission was to create a ceasefire, monitor it and allow political processes to take place to resolve the outstanding issues, the president noted that its expulsion without explanation makes the EAC’s existence questionable. “Why can’t even people have a discussion about it? Why can’t the EAC and SADC talk about whatever problem there is and find a way of resolving it?” he said. Zeroing in on the causes of DR Congo conflicts, Kagame protested the tendency of blaming neighbouring countries for the failures of the DR Congo government itself. “In eastern DRC, the problems have a very long history. People just scratch the surface and never go deep to understand why we are having this thing we are seeing in front of us,” he said. Once again reflecting on the persecution of Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese which is characterised by killings and hate speech, he questioned why western countries choose to address it through unsatisfactory ways like granting asylum to a handful of families, instead of trying to solve the real problem. “They (western countries) come and pick 10 families, 20 and no more than that and go to resettle them either in the US, Canada or Europe. So they are aware that these are people running away from their country. They recognise they are here as refugees and they know that these are Congolese,” he said. “From 100,000 people, you are taking five families or 10 to resettle them as a way of addressing that problem and you really want people to believe that you are addressing the problem,” he added. ALSO READ: South Africa-led SADC deployment in the DRC will destabilize the East African region Kagame also hinted at the existence of the FDLR, an armed group comprised of individuals who committed the Genocide against the Tutsi. “They have been there (in DR Congo) for the last 30 years, more or less. In fact, you have heard of a UN force that has been there for decades in Congo. It was mainly created to address that or the conflicts around that problem. They have been there for decades, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on that operation, there is nothing,” he said. “I think some people would be interested in keeping the problem going on forever so they can use it for whatever they have in mind in Congo or they can use it against Rwanda in wanting to manage Rwanda in the way they want,” he added.
