The government of Rwanda in response to the expulsion of it’s Ambassador from DRC has placed it’s forces at the border on High Alert.
DRC’s Defense Council chaired by President Felix Tshisekedi on Saturday ordered Vincent Karega to leave the Congolese territory within 48 hours.
This followed reports that Rwanda had sent 3,000 special forces to reinforce the M23 rebels in North Kivu, Eastern DRC.
“Rwanda notes with regret the decision by the Government of the DRC to expel Rwandan Ambassador Vincent Karega,” said Rwanda in a statement on Sunday afternoon.
“Rwandan security forces at our border with the DRC remain on alert, as we continue to monitor the Congolese escalation,” it added
Tension between Rwanda and the DRC escalated after the latter expelled the earlier ambassador.
This followed seizure of Kitagoma Border Town by M23 rebels whom DRC leadership accuse Rwanda of supporting.
The seizure of the border forced hundreds of Congolese nationals to flee into Uganda’s Kisoro District.
On Saturday, October 29, 2022, DR Congo President and Supreme Commander of the FARDC and the National Police, H.E Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, chaired a Superior Council of Defense meeting on national security in relation to the evolution of the security situation in the eastern part of the vast mineral-rich country.
Patrick Muyaya, the government spokesman, later announced the decisions of the meeting, claiming “a massive arrival of elements of the Rwandan element to support the M23 terrorists” against DR Congo’s troops.
He noted that the defence council which sat at the Cité de l’Union Africaine in Kinshasa had decided to ask the government to give Rwandan ambassador, Vincent Karega, 48 hours to leave the country.
The Supreme Defense Council asked the Government to expel, within 48 hours after his notification, Karega, the Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Rwanda stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“This is due, on the one hand, to Rwanda’s persistence in attacking the DRC and supporting the M23 terrorist movement, which it exploits for this purpose; and on the other hand, the contempt tinged with arrogance of the Rwandan authorities vis-à vis both the Nairobi and Luanda process and the recommendations of the international community, more specifically the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and bilateral partners unanimously demanding the cessation of terrorist.
Rwanda, according to media reports said today that it would continue to bring to the attention of the international community the persistent hate speech, public incitement and violent harassment against Rwandans and Congolese Kinyarwanda-speaking communities in the DRC, carried out by Congolese officials and the general public.
“The integration of the FDLR within the FARDC and their collaboration is directly linked to ever increasing hate speech and violence in DRC against Rwandans and Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese communities,” said Rwanda.
“It is regrettable the Government of the DRC continues to scapegoat Rwanda to cover up and distract from their own governance and security failures. Rwanda remains committed to contributing to a sustainable, peaceful regional security solution within the agreed regional frameworks, including the Luanda Roadmap and the Nairobi Process.”
