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DR Congo\u2019s problems are inherently political and can only be addressed through a political process, President Kagame has said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe political process is very important for me and I guess for everyone else, it comes first,\u201d Kagame said Monday, July 4, during a televised interview, which also featured live call-ins from ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou just don\u2019t keep fighting and expect to find a solution for political crises, or for governance problems,\u201d Kagame said, in response to a question on the possible solution to Congo\u2019s crisis.<\/p>\n
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Kagame expressed support for the East African Community-backed\u00a0inter-Congolese peace dialogue<\/u>\u00a0under what is known as the\u00a0Nairobi Process<\/u>Despite their concern, they expressed concern about Kinshasa’s tendency to shift the goalposts after regional leaders have agreed on the best way forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cThings keep changing even after the meetings (Heads of State Conclave),\u201d the Rwandan leader said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had three meetings, two of which I attended, one I wasn\u2019t able to attend but in which I was represented by our Foreign Minister (and which) I think had reached a good way of dealing with the problem,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was a ceasefire; second, a political process continuing in Nairobi, and then make sure that the problem of FDLR is addressed\u201d<\/p>\n
The FDLR terrorist group is blacklisted and was created by remnants of the genocidal force and militia that were behind the massacre of more then a million Tutsi during the 1994 Genocide.<\/p>\n
As Rwandans marked their independence, President Kagame spoke.\u00a028th\u00a0anniversary of the country\u2019s liberation<\/u>, which saw Kagame’s Rwanda Patriotic Army forces\u00a0Stop the genocidal machinery<\/u>Many Genocide ringleaders or perpetrators crossed into Congo.<\/p>\n
Kagame, who dismissed Kinshasa\u2019s allegations that Kigali was backing the M23 rebels, said that regional leaders had had agreed on a path out of the Congo crisis but then DR Congo government turned around and said \u2018no, we\u2019re not going to speak to M23 because these are terrorists.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden terrorists were born as an excuse to not continue with the political process,\u201d he said, referring to the decision by the government of President\u00a0Felix\u00a0Tshisekedi\u00a0not to continue taking to the M23 Movement under the Nairobi Process.<\/p>\n
Kagame wondered: \u201cIf they are terrorists, why would you fight terrorists as you call them and at the same time go looking for an ethnic group that is related to these \u201cterrorists\u201d? Can you call an ethnic group a terrorist organization? This sounds crazy, you can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The big catch\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n During the\u00a0Third Conclave<\/u>\u00a0in Nairobi last month, Kagame recalled, the EAC leaders agreed to deployment of a joint force to the Congo \u201cto ensure that the ceasefire we\u2019re talking about actually holds and allows for political processes to take place.\u201d<\/p>\n On Kinshasa\u2019s insistence that Rwanda must not be part of the proposed EAC force, Kagame said Kigali had no issue with that.<\/p>\n “I am happy that this can be done without our involvement,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cRwanda is not asking for it and is not complaining about it\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, he warned: \u201cThere is a big catch here; if you don\u2019t address security concerns of Rwanda you have a problem on your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can see the President of Congo talking about it as if it\u2019s a victory; no, victory will come when you\u2019ve solved the crisis or these political problems.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n Kagame said that, contrary to DR Congo\u2019s claims, it was Kinshasa that was working with and arming the FDLR militia, enabling them to attack Rwanda, including in November 2019 when the group made incursions into Rwanda, killing civilians in Kinigi, Musanze District. He also cited the shelling of Rwanda\u2019s territory by FARDC and FDLR on three occasions this year which killed civilians and destroyed property.<\/p>\n He said the intention was to suck Rwanda into DR Congo\u2019s internal problems.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been resisting that but I don\u2019t know for how long if they continue doing what they\u2019ve been doing,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Head of State said Congolese governments have a record of \u201cbehaving like spoiled kids; they cause trouble and then cry foul\u201d. He said that this has led to some bad decisions by some members of international community. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis time around they (DR Congo) did what they did blatantly; they made a big mistake which everybody was able to see,\u201d he said, adding that not many people have \u201cbought into the lies the government has been airing on different occasions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe the way of seeing things also is changing,\u201d Kagame said, but hastened to point out that the UN forces in the Congo, Monusco, has supported FARDC, the Congolese army, despite being aware of the fact that the latter were fighting alongside the FDLR against the M23 rebels.<\/p>\n The President observed: \u201cBy the way, they\u2019re supporting the government of Congo forces against their own people, the M23 we\u2019re talking about are Congolese.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut to explain it further and show how bad the whole thing is, when the government forces are having problems with the M23 they take it to the Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, meaning it\u2019s like \u2018you\u2019re the same people , so if you\u2019re fighting then we shall go for your\u2026.\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see how anybody can justify this, but also it\u2019s proof that the M23 are associated with these other Congolese who are being persecuted, it explains the point that what\u2019s happening there, as an internal crisis, touches on the persecution of a people of the Congo,\u201d Kagame said.<\/p>\n \u2018Ethnic persecution\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n He added, \u201cThat\u2019s why you\u2019re fighting the M23 and when you\u2019re not getting your way then you take it to their families, to their kith and kin, it becomes ethnic persecution.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact of the matter is that these are Congolese, they\u2019re not Rwandans, they\u2019re only of Rwandese heritage or culture, but they are Congolese by nationality; how that happened you can\u2019t ask me because I was not there, I am not responsible, Rwanda is not responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n Millions of Kinyarwanda speakers and their ancestral territories were on the Congo side at the border when colonialists divided Africa up and set up colonial boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the past decades, successive Congolese governments sought to expel them, calling them Rwandans and subjecting them to discrimination, targeted ethnic violence, which is a major reason for the rise of armed groups such as the M23 rebels.<\/p>\n DR Congo\u2019s political, military and civil society leaders have in recent weeks doubled down on\u00a0Incitement and hate speech<\/u>\u00a0to violence against Rwandophones, resulting in loss of lives \u2013 and some of the shocking videos of brutal attacks have been shared on social media platforms.<\/p>\n Kagame appealed for Kinshasa authorities to take responsibility and address their internal problems, rather than looking for scapegoats.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they\u2019ve fought M23 and have not defeated them, then it must be somebody else. For them, the problem is somebody else; it\u2019s coming from somewhere else.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUntil they learn to take their problem as their problem and find a solution, then we shall stay in this kind of mess that we find ourselves in,\u201d Kagame said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut why would Rwanda need to be involved in the Congo when we were building peace and security between the two countries from the beginning? How things changed, all of a sudden, I think the Congolese have a lot to explain about themselves, not Rwanda.\u201d<\/p>\n jmunyaneza@newtimesrwanda.com<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
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