Rwandans and Congolese start to reap the benefits of the ongoing joint Rwanda -Democratic of Congo, ‘Operation Umoja Wetu’, which since being launched has recorded tremendous victories, for the two countries.

A Rwanda-DRC partnership that has riled many could have been the only solution to finding peace for the long suffering Congolese.

It only took the leadership resolve of the Congolese and their Rwandan counterparts, to wake up one day, start talking, then literary take the bull by the horns.

Indeed many have claimed to be working at bringing peace to this volatile region, yet they have only been tugging at the bull’s tail, as agreement after agreement got violated.

Reality for many of these should now start sinking in, as ‘Operation Umoja Wetu,’ records one victory after another, the latest being the returning home of over 500 former hostages.

One would not want to question the sheer inhumanity, how these people have lived and the mere senseless brutality of it all – women and children living in the Congolese jungles at gun point.

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have held these people and more captive for close to a decade and a half.

The Rwandan government has a plan in place for the reintegration of those returning into society, this includes, boarding, allowances and security, the much needed reprieve – a new lease of life. Innocent women and children have been set free to start a new life.

This is just one of the success stories recorded by the, ‘Operation Umoja Wetu’. Yesterday we reported on MONUC’s, Public Relations Officer, Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, acknowledging the fact that the unprecedented voluntary surrender of the FDLR, was a success of the joint operation.

She also stresses in the interview that the joint military pressure by the Rwandan’s and Congolese, had set free populations who have been kept ‘captive’, over the past fifteen years. It is now up to the other doubting Thomases to wake up and smell coffee.  

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