Rwandan President Paul Kagame has denied allegations that Rwanda is backing the M23 rebel group, accusing South African officials of distorting his conversations with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
President Kagame revealed on Tuesday that he held two conversations with President Ramaphosa on the situation in Eastern DRC. “What has been said about these conversations in the media by South African officials and President Ramaphosa himself contains a lot of distortion, deliberate attacks, and even lies,” President Kagame said.
Kagame clarified several points, including that the Rwanda Defence Force is a professional army, not a militia. He also criticized the Southern African Development Community (SADC) intervention force, SAMIDRC, for engaging in offensive combat operations alongside genocidal armed groups like the FDLR.
He claims that the FDLR was founded by perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and continues to propagate hate speech and ethnic violence targeting Congolese Tutsi communities. Kagame emphasized that Rwanda will not tolerate threats to its security and that of the region.
Regarding his conversations with President Ramaphosa, Kagame stated that the South African leader never issued a warning to Rwanda. Instead, Ramaphosa requested support to ensure the South African force has adequate resources, which Kagame agreed to facilitate.Kagame also revealed that President Ramaphosa confirmed to him that M23 did not kill South African soldiers, but rather the FARDC, the Congolese army. This revelation contradicts earlier reports and highlights the complexity of the conflict.
In a stern warning to South Africa, Kagame stated, “If South Africa wants to contribute to peaceful solutions, that is well and good, but South Africa is in no position to take on the role of a peacemaker or mediator. And if South Africa prefers confrontation, Rwanda will deal with the matter in that context any day”.
The ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC has resulted in millions of displaced people and widespread human suffering. The international community is calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, but Kagame’s warning to South Africa suggests that tensions remain high.
Discussion about this post