The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, has accused his counterpart in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, of dishonouring several agreements on addressing the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The DR Congo accuses Rwanda of invading its territory “disguised in M23 rebels,” which is escalating tensions between the two neighbors in the African Great Lakes region.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Kagame criticized Mr. Tshisekedi for failing to address the internal problem in the Congo and placing the blame on Rwanda in a speech to diplomats in Rwanda.
“This person has dishonoured dozens of agreements he has made with people including even last time in Bujumbura”, Mr Kagame said.
“We discuss things in the open, he participated, we wrote a communiqué, giving people of what we discussed and the way forward. The communiqué is read, but the next day an opposite communiqué is read in Kinshasa,” he added.
The East African heads of state summit that took place over the weekend in Bujumbura, Burundi, called for a “immediate ceasefire,” the “withdrawal of all foreign groups,” and the “dialogue among all the parties”.
A day later, Congolese government spokesperson said they would “only abide” by the November agreements in Luanda to end the conflict.
President Kagame lamented that despite the UN having more than 10,000 peacekeepers on the ground, the rebels’ issue kept “coming back for nearly three decades.”
Author-Roberta Appiah
