EngRegional
Tshisekedi’s declaration of war against Rwanda is a hoax
Congolese
President Félix Tshisekedi made an unmatched statement straying from normal
diplomatic manners, when he declared his desire to wage a war on Rwanda.
Tshisekedi
blames Rwanda for the decades-long insecurity in the east of the Democratic
Republic of Congo, despite the failures of successive Congolese governments to address
the root causes of the internal crisis as well as lack of political will to
halt violence in the volatile region. The eastern provinces face escalating
insecurity.
But
new pockets of insecurity have emerged in other parts of the country, notably
the Greater Katanga region and Mai-Ndombe and Tshopo provinces.
“I
will convene both chambers in congress as recommended by the constitution, and
I will ask them for authorization to declare war on Rwanda. I say it, and I
choose my words carefully because I am even ready for that, and today we don't
even need to send troops on the ground to Rwanda, from here, we can reach
Kigali,” Tshisekedi told Top Congo FM, on December 18.
Tshisekedi's
focus has been on inciting hate against Rwandans and Rwanda’s leadership instead
of addressing internal problems that have been shaking the vast country even
before he assumed office in 2019.
But his
desire to attack Rwanda could result in a catastrophic and self-destructive
undertaking. By attacking Rwanda, Tshisekedi’s wish can only turn out to be a
disastrous and suicidal adventure.
Although
Tshisekedi bragged about having weapons that can hit Kigali from Goma, he can
be excused for his ignorance on military matters. It is not the caliber of
ammunitions that matter in a war, but the cause and morale of soldiers which
plays a bigger role.
Tshisekedi
has no army capable of fighting the Rwandan army. Lately, he has tried to boost
his national army’s fighting numbers by paying huge sums of money to more than
2,000 Eastern European mercenaries, more than 2,000 Burundian soldiers, the
Rwandan genocidal militia called FDLR formed by remnants of the perpetrators of
the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and conscripting a myriad of local
Congolese militias including the "Wazalendo" –
"patriots" in Kiswahili – to have a force capable of attacking
Rwanda, as well as annihilating the Congolese Tutsi community in the east of
his vast country.
By
trying to provoke neighboring Rwanda’s disciplined, well trained and ably led
Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) into battle, the Congolese leader is behaving like a
mad man.
The
Rwandan army is one of the most disciplined and effective armies on the African
continent and is no match for whatever ragtag coalition Tshisekedi can patch
up. On the contrary, the Congolese national army, FARDC, is generally weak,
dysfunctional, undisciplined, and unprofessional. This
state of affairs is generally caused by corruption, tribalism and lack of
morale of the army due to poor welfare and working conditions.
Despite
possessing heavy weapons as he claims, with 18,000 military personnel in North
Kivu Province, Tshisekedi has failed to defeat the M23 rebels even with the
backup of MONUSCO, Wazalendo, FDLR, as well as Eastern European mercenaries.
The
East Africa Regional Force (EACRF) which helped to bring relative peace in
eastern DRC has been chased away having been deemed ineffective by Kinshasa
just because the regional bloc preferred the path of political dialogue. Tshisekedi
vehemently refused to dialogue with the M23 rebels and sort out their issues.
The
Congolese government and its coalition of illegal armed militia groups and
foreign mercenaries violated a regionally brokered peace process when it
undermined EACRF. DRC’s termination of the EAC regional force undermined all
the regional efforts to bring peace to the volatile east.
Congolese
living in the affected Provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, say they are
tired of the multifaceted war that has continued for three decades, and want
lasting peace. Unfortunately, that is not on Tshisekedi’s agenda.
“For
more than a decade, successive Congolese governments could not fight and defeat
any single armed group in the country. Does Tshisekedi really think that
mercenaries can help him bring Rwanda on its knees? Well, he is wrong. But he
knows it anyway. That’s why I strongly believe that his war drums were actually
a campaign trick to fool Congolese voters and the world,” Sammy, a Congolese
citizen in the USA said.
As noted, Tshisekedi’s rhetoric was less
geared at war but calculated to spur nationalistic fervour and gain more votes
in the DRC where anti-Rwandan sentiment has become increasingly strong.
