Kagame : Kagame speaks out on DRC issues
President Paul Kagame has said that Rwanda has no involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the current insurgencies and political problems should be solved by DRC and the international community.
The comments come barely a month after the Human Right Watch claimed to have evidence to pin Rwanda for involvement in the Congolese conflict through aiding rebel groups. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) conflict has displaced many Congolese nationals in the east and northern regions of the country.
Most of the fleeing refugees have sought refuge in Rwanda and Uganda and the numbers are said to be increasing each day by at least 200 entrants.
President Kagame was on June 19 addressing local and international media at Urugwiro village, the presidents offices located in Kacyiru, Kigali city.
Kagame said problems in Congo have been around for a long time and it is absurd when the international community turns the blame on Rwanda as if it has to be responsible for problems of another government.
“Problems of governance in DRC continue but are not considered as a key cause of the crisis because of hypocrisy of the international community. People make it seem as if Congo does not exist on its own. There is a tendency of people running away from issues to make Rwanda the scapegoat,” Kagame said.
The president said that the UN mission in Congo should live to its mandate and put to use the annual funding for its presence in the region instead of asking Rwanda to be answerable for the Congolese problems.
President Kagame said that Rwanda’s intervention into the Congo in 2009 was in the interest of peace, and meant to resolve many domestic issues in DRC but the implementation failed and the blame has since been put on Rwanda, even after the country was praised for arresting one of the rebel leaders, Laurent Nkunda.
Rwanda has not been stuck at the accusation but moved on to assist the government restore peace and take care of the fleeing refugees. It is in this regard that Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mishikiwabo and her Congolese counterpart, Raymond Tshibanda have held various high level security meetings in Kigali and Kinshasha to bring an end to the insurgencies in the region- which seems to be affecting not only the Congo but its neighborhoods too.
In the mean time, members of the UN Security Council have stressed the need for regional cooperation to help uproot armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that are responsible for atrocities against civilians.
