Business and geo-political interests of some countries in Europe and beyond, that have been profiteering from peacekeeping and the mess that has reigned in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo for the last thirty years, have been rattled since the recent capture and take-over of Goma and Bukavu cities by the seemingly more organised AFC/M23 rebels. For this 'crime', Rwanda, which is being accused of supporting the rebels, has to be punished, sanctioned and accused of all sorts of things, including being questioned over putting defensive measures along its border with DR Congo! That the sporadic outbursts from the international community about the ''worsening humanitarian crisis' in east of DR Congo, come at a time the kleptocrats in Kinshasa have ramped up their mineral diplomacy and blackmail campaigns against Rwanda, in Western capitals, touting cash and inking deals, with lobbyists (some call them highly-connected corruption agents), is not just deeply disturbing and hypocritical, it is outright protection and emboldening of a regime that has been presiding over anarchy and state failure for years. Political and later, military conflicts are never an abrupt occurrence; they are a result of series of failures by those in power to resolve long simmering citizen grievances and tensions. Similarly, the current crisis in eastern DR Congo has not just happened. All the signs and indications of an impending implosion were in clear view for everyone who would have genuinely cared. It is on record, that President Felix Tshisekedi has previously acknowledged that the M23 are Congolese citizens, with genuine citizen grievances that must be addressed. He has however since backtracked on this with no consequence. As to why the now ''alarmed partners'' in Brussels, London or Washington, have never questioned, let alone, sanctioned DR Congo for mass ethnic cleansing of a section of its people, the Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese Tutsis – which even the UN with its own failures acknowledged – is mind boggling. However, this does not surprise me as a Rwandan, given the Genocide that occurred in Rwanda 30 years back and the role of the same ''partners''. Geo-political shifts, Kinshasa's cash bonanza to lobbyists to blackmail Rwanda in western capitals to mask its leadership deficits, and the bullying targeting Rwanda through bilateral and development aid suspension, summons of our diplomats is for those seeking genuine long term and sustainable peace in the Great Lakes Region, self-defeating and a futile endeavor. When presidents Tshisekedi and Burundi's Evariste Ndayishimiye publicly declared they were going to attack and overthrow the Government in Rwanda, there was deafening silence. When South Africa’s Maj.Gen. Monwabisi Dyakopu, the Force Commander of SAMIDRC, while addressing the Tanzanian contingent that had joined SAMIDRC declared; ''SAMIDRC is an offensive mission, we must eliminate the enemy - the M23 – first, then we shall tell you who the next enemy is,'' none cared to ask him who that next enemy would be. There was silence. When a few days later, a coalition comprising of the UN and US-sanctioned genocidal militias, FDLR, the Burundian forces, the FARDC , the Wazalendo and the SAMIDRC fired heavy artillery and missiles into Rwanda, killing 16 innocent civilians, and injuring dozens others, there has not been a single voice of condemnation of this act of grave aggression. As a result of the continued Western interference Tshisekedi is consolidating, re-arming and promising much more pay rises to the genocidal FDLR, and other militias so that they can intensify civilian attacks, such as the recent state-sponsored terror attack at a rally that was attended by tens of thousands of civilians in Bukavu. This attack has for obvious reasons not been condemned by anybody. While the joint EAC-SADC leaders and the African Union are calling on the Kinshasa regime to embrace dialogue with the M23 and other groups with genuine grievances, Tshisekedi is instead, chest thumping and busy warmongering. We saw the same international community's hypocritical and diversionary outcry sanctions and other threats in 2012 when M23 briefly occupied Goma. The short-term tactic did not work then, and it will not work today. The earlier Tshisekedi's handlers advise him or better still, force him, to embrace dialogue as proposed by the continent and the regional blocs, the better for everyone. As for our partners in the West, throwing mud at Rwanda at every opportunity, at the behest of the kleptocrats in Kinshasa is not only irrational, it is also cheap and contemptuous. The author is the board chairperson of the Africa-Caribbean & Pacific Congress of Press Clubs
