Another day, another act of suicidal, drug induced madness coming from the direction of our western neighbors. To me, yesterday’s terse communique from Rwanda Defence Force, explaining the shooting of one FARDC soldier (and the arrest of two), was further evidence of a few things.

Firstly, it reinforced my belief that there is an inherently suicidal streak in many sections of DR Congo armed forces. Think about it; three soldiers thought it prudent to cross an international border carrying firearms. Not just any border mind you but rather a highly militarized border of a country that their own commander-in-chief threatens to obliterate. And as the statement reveals, when they were challenged by Rwandan security, they decided to fire upon them. I’m no military expert, but I ardently believe that even the biggest novice in the world wouldn’t dare discharge a firearm without a plan, especially in the circumstances that exist on the Rubavu-Goma border. However, they discharged their gun, and now a family in DRC is mourning the totally unnecessary death of a son.

This wouldn’t be the first or second time a DR Congo soldier has ended up dead on the Rwandan side of the border. On the morning of July 17, 2022, a Congolese soldier armed with an AK 47 rifle crossed ‘Petite Barrière’ border post and began indiscriminately shooting at security personnel and people crossing the border alike, injuring two police officers. The incident only ended when the soldier was shot dead by police after advancing 25 meters into Rwandan territory.

Secondly, yesterday’s deadly incident further convinces me of the likelihood that heavy drug use is likely playing a major role in the heated theatre of war that is eastern DR Congo. As revealed by the RDF communique, along with one AK-47 gun, four magazines with 105 rounds and a protective vest, numerous marijuana sachets were discovered on the soldiers. Similarly, the FARDC soldier, who was fatally shot before causing more havoc in 2022, was also found with sachets of marijuana. I’m also pretty sure that the Presidential Guards that shot and killed over 50 unarmed civilians in Goma last September were high off drugs when they did so. And if I examine the numerous incidents and provocations over the last few years (recall the DR Congo Sukhoi fighter jets that, in one incident, randomly decided to land on Rubavu airport and then take off again, and then in another almost got shot down by RDF after its pilot violated Rwandan airspace), it's hard for me not to imagine that drug use is actively encouraged by DR Congo’s military and political hierarchy.

Thirdly, it further cements my belief that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s November request that Rwanda takes steps to de-escalate tensions with DR Congo by "removing troops from the border” (as the State Department tweeted) would be nothing but an invitation for the dangerous forces to spread chaos in our peaceful country. As I wrote last year, this call was "naïve, unreasonable, and unworthy of the world’s ‘greatest’ superpower” and akin to us committing suicide. What happened yesterday is further proof, which I doubt Blinken lacks, that rather than being positive forces for stability, DR Congo’s military is one of the chief drivers of the conflict (alongside the Mai-Mai and genocidal FDLR). If these drugs addled, suicidal Congolese soldiers sought to spread chaos into Rwanda, well knowing just how battle-ready and numerous our security services in the border area were, imagine if this wasn’t the case? I imagine that similar actions would occur with more and more frequency. Thankfully that isn’t the case and these incidents are few and extremely far between.

The question I’d like to ask the international community, and especially the East African Community and SADC, at what point will they stop treating Tshisekedi and his government of incompetents, with kid gloves?

I understand that they want to sign all sorts of mineral deals with his administration but what they are doing is allowing him to play with people’s lives and livelihoods. When will enough be enough?

The author is a socio-political commentator