DRC should reject neocolonialists in favour of regional cooperation

Editor, Reference is made to the story, “DRC, M23 peace signing deal hits snag” (The New Times, November 12). This is the same behaviour like the one exhibited by the former genocidal government in Kigali, during the early 1990s, when then president, Juvénal Habyarimana, would be waited for in Arusha (Tanzania) and, suddenly – within minutes to his arrival and the signing of a peace accord –, it is announced that he would not show up. It is unfortunate that the current government in Kinshasa is showing the same attitude as the former Habyarimana fascist regime! So, the international community is watching, as usual, without applying any pressure on the Congolese government to hammer out a peace deal with the M23 rebels to give peace a chance. Kinshasa falsely believes that the M23 are finished; yet what they do today may end up creating fertile ground for emergency of more insurgents, let alone the dozens of them that remain intact within the DRC territory. Peace can never return to DRC if the government there does not take concrete steps to address the root causes of conflict, top of which is continued persecution and exclusion of the Rwandophone Congolese. Yet by now we know that peace in DRC is not in their western masters’ interest. Congolese should reject neocolonialism and seek to work with their regional peers to address the instability that has dogged their country for decades and give its people a chance to lift themselves out of poverty and transform their lives and country. Ali Hereza, Kigali

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DRC should reject neocolonialists in favour of regional cooperation