President Paul Kagame has called for accountability, truth, and effective governance to find a lasting solution to the escalating security situation in eastern DR Congo. Delivering his remarks at the Africa Union (AU) Peace and Security Council meeting on the security situation in the conflict-battered region, Kagame urged African leaders to move beyond blame and rhetoric and instead invest more efforts in solutions that would bring lasting peace to the area. Rising tensions have recently occurred in eastern DR Congo between the M23 and the Congolese army coalition, with the former claiming more territorial control, including Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. President Kagame said that one of the major challenges hindering the pursuit of peace is the persistent tendency to externalize problems rather than address their root causes. ALSO READ: M23 commander who took part in seizure of Goma links FDLR to Monusco He questioned why some continue to dismiss or trivialize the presence of the Rwandan genocidal militia, FDLR, in eastern DR Congo. The FDLR is a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda saw more than one million people killed in three months. In the lead-up to 1994, lists of Tutsi families and individuals to be killed were drawn up, militias were organised, and quantities of weapons were imported and distributed to citizens as tools for work while the international community was watching. After the genocide, many perpetrators moved into the eastern part of DR Congo where they still harbour the same plan to destabilise Rwanda. “How can FDLR not exist in the minds of some people? Or why is it something that is supposed to be trivialized? When you trivialize that; you trivialize my history and I am not going to accept it. It doesn’t matter who you are,” Kagame said. He made it clear that Rwanda neither seeks permission nor favour from anyone to exist and protect its people. I will live by the fact that it is my right. Just that, he asserted. ALSO READ: Rwanda calls for neutralisation of FDLR militia, withdrawal of foreign troops Kagame also called upon Congolese authorities to resolve the country’s internal conflict, pointing out that sustainable peace in the Great Lakes region cannot come from blame games or external interventions alone. He maintained that the Kinshasa regime should take full charge of its challenges and seek home-grown solutions, rather than relying on external actors. “So, when I am listening to some people saying these things; when does Congo take responsibility for its own mess? How does Congo think all their problems come from outside, and therefore they outsource solutions for their problems?” “Rwanda has nothing to do with Congo’s problems. We have our own problems to deal with. Congo is too big for Rwanda to carry on its back,” Kagame said. This is not the first time President Kagame has called for a shift from the narrative of division to constructive dialogue. ALSO READ: Why genocide ideology doesn’t dissolve three decades after dispersion of genocidaires In a recent joint summit that brought together leaders of the East African Community (EAC) and the South African Development Community (SADC), Kagame described the ongoing conflict in DR Congo as an ethnic war, urging regional leaders to urgently address the crisis that has been spilling over into Rwanda. ALSO READ: EAC, SADC leaders approve harmonised plan for FDLR neutralization “As I told you, we are a small country, we are a poor country, but when it comes to the right to live, don’t you be mistaken. I am not begging, I will not beg anyone,” Kagame said. The peace and security council was held on the sidelines of the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday, February 14. The session was also a follow-up to the 1256th emergency ministerial session that the PSC held on January 28 after the renewed escalation in the eastern DR Congo. There have been heightened regional tensions after M23 rebels captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, on January 27. On Friday, February 14, the rebels announced that they had captured Kavumu airport, about 25 kilometres from Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province. Kinshasa has accused Rwanda of supporting AFC/M23 rebels, an allegation Rwanda has repeatedly denied. Rwanda, in turn, accuses DR Congo of harbouring, arming, and training the genocidal FDLR militia to destabilize Rwandan security and overthrow its government, as Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi has publicly declared.
