Chaos in Congo steals the limelight

This week, Rwanda hosted the Commonwealth East Africa Investment Conference. The two day conference was organised by the Rwanda Development Board, the Commonwealth Business Council and the East African Business Council. The conference comes a few months after Rwanda hosted yet another business conference - The East Africa Investment Conference in June. It is apparent from these conferences that major league business people are interested in Rwanda’s economy and they speak volumes about the strategic positioning the leadership of this country has been doing in order to realise economic and social transformation for its people. As a result, many international businesses have put their money in Rwanda, investing in different sectors of the economy. Moving on It was confirmed this week that the commander of the UN peacekeeping forces in Eastern Congo, MONUC, General Vicente Diaz de Villeges, had resigned less than a month after assuming the position. His move to resign says a lot about the UN force currently battling the forces loyal to Major General Laurent Nkunda chairman of the National Forces for the Defence of the People (CNDP). He is reported to have stated in his resignation that MONUC lacks a clear vision and was doomed to fail. The Spanish general who was appointed in August replacing the Senegalese General Bubacar Gaye, also had no kind words for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government authorities saying that there was lack of serious leadership in the DRC. Presidents talk The DRC President Joseph Kabila this week sent a special message to President Paul Kagame. The message was delivered by the new Congolese foreign affairs Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba. The message dwelt on the current crisis in the North Kivu area of Eastern DRC. It was reported that Kagame sent a message back to Kabila reiterating his concerns about the continued alliance between the DRC government and the Rebel militia FDLR. The Congolse army in recent months has been accused by different international groups of have dealings with the FDLR which is one of the internationally blacklisted terrorist groups. This week, the conflict in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo took a new twist with the forces loyal to CNDP Chairman Laurent Nkunda poised to take Goma town. However, he later announced that he was stopping his march on Goma and said he was committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Nkunda announced a ceasefire on Wednesday after DRC forces had fled from Goma after looting and pillaging the town. Nkunda has for a couple of years been at the froe front of the struggle to defend the rights of the Kinyarwanda speaking Tutsi people of Eastern DRC who continue to face thetreat of extermination at the hands of the FDLR-Interahamwe. Not our problem On the conflict in DRC, the foreign affairs Minister Rosemary Museminari addressed a press conference Thursday and reiterated the fact that the issues of Congo have nothing to do with Rwanda. She also denied reports that the country’s territory was being used to support rebels in the DRC. The minister was reacting to statements made by US Assistant Secretary of state for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer who said that Rwandan territory was being used to support CNDP rebels in Eastern Congo. At the same time the Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, Liberata Muramula called upon the DRC government to find a solution to the strife in the Eastern part of the DRC instead of making accusations against Rwanda. This is what many had hoped the DRC authorities would do given the fact tat there are many agreements that have signed in orders to restore peace in Eastern Congo. Ends