Rwanda press secretary slams international community on how they are handling DRC conflict
The Press Secretary accused international bodies of pushing for a return to the status quo, where corruption and external interests thrived under the guise of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.
Rwanda has accused the international community of ignoring its long-standing calls for a political solution to the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), saying the global response continues to sideline the country's security concerns.
President Paul Kagame's Press Secretary, Stéphanie Nyombayire on Wednesday, dismissed the renewed push for a political settlement as disingenuous, arguing that Rwanda has advocated for such a resolution for years, only for its appeals to be repeatedly ignored.
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She accused Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi of outright rejecting the approach, despite mounting tensions.
"Unlike what the international community will have you believe, the idea that a political solution is necessary to solve the conflict in Eastern DRC is far from new. It is what Rwanda has been calling for, for years. It is exactly what President Tshisekedi has openly and repeatedly refused to do. And we will not join you in pretending otherwise," Nyombayire stated.
She went on to criticise what she termed as selective outrage, claiming that global actors were not genuinely concerned about the state of the DRC but were instead using the situation to serve geopolitical interests at Rwanda's expense.
"The underlying message of the selective outcry is not that there is a sudden genuine concern for the plight of a country that everyone knows is a failed state. The message is clear: the decision made 30 years ago that the lives of Rwandans are expendable in the face of geopolitical interests still stands today," Nyombayire said.
Nyombayire further alleged that the Congolese government was being enabled by its allies to avoid accountability while recruiting armed groups and foreign fighters to sustain the crisis.
"That is why the leadership of DRC is enjoying the perks of sharing the same interests as their masters: talk crazy, recruit genocidaires and European mercenaries to fight your wars, sit back, relax, and let the international community bury the real issue," she said.
The Press Secretary accused international bodies of pushing for a return to the status quo, where corruption and external interests thrived under the guise of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.
"What every resolution and statement is calling for is an immediate return to business as usual: a nation that must remain a lawless playground where leaders get their cut to go buy castles in Brussels, the international community thrives off the business of peacekeeping and poverty alleviation programmes, and their companies protect their profits," Nyombayire stated.
She insisted that the security threats Rwanda has faced for decades are being deliberately downplayed because acknowledging them would disrupt the interests of powerful nations.
"Every country throwing its weight behind DRC knows they would never tolerate a fraction of the kind of security threats Rwanda has been facing for 30 years. The gaslighting is deliberate because the truth is bad for business," Nyombayire said.
Her remarks echo those of President Kagame, who has in recent weeks expressed frustration over the dismissal of the role played by the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) in the ongoing violence.
Earlier this month, Kagame questioned why the armed group's activities continued to be minimised despite its well-documented presence in eastern DRC.
"How can FDLR not exist in the minds of some people? Or why is it something that is supposed to be trivialised? When you trivialise that, you trivialise my history, and I am not going to accept it," Kagame said.
The Rwandan President has also accused Congo of shifting blame instead of addressing its internal problems. "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?" he asked.
Kagame maintained that Rwanda would not shoulder Congo's burdens at the expense of its sovereignty.
"Congo is too big for Rwanda to carry on its back. We have our problems to deal with," he said. "But when it comes to the right to live, don't you be mistaken. I am not begging, I will not beg anyone."
The tensions between Rwanda and DRC have continued to escalate, with Kinshasa accusing Kigali of backing the M23 rebels in eastern Congo.
Rwanda has denied these allegations, arguing that it is instead confronting security threats posed by the FDLR, a militia linked to perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
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