The M23, a rebel group that resurfaced in November 2021 after nearly a decade of inactivity, has since been the focus of international attention. However, M23 remains committed to a "peaceful solution” to the conflict in eastern DR Congo, according to spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka.

In an interview with Harvard scholar Bojana Coulibaly, Kanyuka said M23 is a broad-based Congolese movement, contrary to popular clichés that it is a Tutsi-led rebel group supported by Rwanda.

But what is the M23 rebel group?

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What is the origin of M23?

The M23 was created on May 6, 2013 due to the failures of the Congolese government, especially the "refusal to implement the peace agreement signed on March 23rd, 2009,” Kanyuka told Coulibaly.

The rebel group derives its name from the failed March 23 agreement.

M23 is a member of the rebel coalition Congo River Alliance (AFC), which was created in December 2023 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The AFC is led by Corneille Nangaa, a former president of Congolese electoral commission CENI.

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In 2013, the rebel group pulled out of its held territory, including Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province. Its combatants fled to Rwanda and Uganda.

Kanyuka insists that they "were not dormant” before they resumed fighting in late 2021 to early 2022.

After 14 months attempting to reach an agreement with the Congolese government, in which they would help to stabilise Eastern DR Congo, Kanyuka said, in November 2021, the M23 bases in North Kivu were attacked by government forces.

"They continued to attack us at our headquarters, and we decided to start retaliating on March 28, 2022,” he said.

What are M23 rebels fighting for?

"We fight for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict,” he said, adding that they are against tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other vices, prevalent in DR Congo.

He said the conflict in eastern DR Congo in part stems from the presence of several armed groups, such as the FDLR, a United Nations-sanctioned militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Eastern DR Congo has remained volatile for close to 30 years.

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"There is also, most importantly, a lack of a clear vision for a sustainable development for the country as a whole,” Kanyuka said.

In the current conflict, M23 is fighting the government coalition that includes a force from the Southern African Development Communication (SADC), FDLR, Burundian soldiers, local armed groups known as Wazalendo and European mercenaries.

Is M23 a Tutsi rebel group?

The M23 is usually described in news reports as a Tutsi rebel group, but Kanyuka said it is made up of people from other Congolese ethnic groups, even in its high ranks.

"M23 is a political-military movement, which has a president who is a Mushi named Bertrand Bisimwa, a Vice President who is also the chief of staff for the ARC (Congolese Revolutionary Army), Major General Sultani Makenga, who is a Congolese Tutsi, the executive secretary of the movement Benjamin Mbonipa, a Congolese Hutu, and myself, a Luba from Kasai,” said Kanyuka, who shares the same ethnic group as Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi.

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"It is a Congolese movement with many different ethnic backgrounds,” he said.

"For example, the deputy chief of staff General Bernard Byamungu is Mutembo, the military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Willy Ngoma is from the Bas Congo, and Colonel Biyoyo is Mushi. This means that our movement is inclusive and diverse, unlike how the [Congolese] government is trying to portray us, namely as Rwandans or a Tutsi-led movement.”

What is the solution to the M 23 conflict?

"The conflict is political,” said Kanyuka.

"Since 2012, we have been seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict. We were in Goma in 2012. We could have gone further, but the international community requested that we engage in peace talks, which we accepted.”

Kanyuka said the solution to the conflict should be political.

"With my experience of being in negotiations from the Kampala talks of 2012, through all the negotiations that took place and are ongoing, our movement reiterates that the [Congolese] government should accept to negotiate,” he noted.