Fighting is raging in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and latest information from the restive country indicate indiscriminate attacks against civilian populations by the coalition led by Congolese government forces FARDC. The Kinshasa-backed coalition includes government forces, a concoction of several militia groups including the genocidal FDLR of Rwanda, Burundian armed forces and mercenaries from Eastern Europe. ALSO READ: M23 vows to deal with DR Congo artillery, air attacks They were also recently been joined by a force from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), among others, and enjoy a close working relationship with the UN peacekeeping force, MONUSCO. However, despite this overwhelming support, it is close to two years since fighting resumed between the Congolese government forces and M23, a rebel group that claims to fight for the rights of a section of a population that has for years have been at the receiving end of state sponsored persecution, with no end in sight. ALSO READ: M23 rebels vow to retaliate after FARDC drone strikes kill two commanders They have failed to dislodge them and instead, the rebel group – which is one of the over 100 fighting in this region – is gaining ground with the vanquished government side taking its ire on innocent civilian communities. Several peace efforts have been ignored by the war-mongering Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi despite the successive losses at the battlefield at the hands of the determined ragtag rebel group. In fact, M23 has on several occasions made a commitment and taken necessary steps to demonstrate goodwill with an aim to give peace a chance to resolve the issue, but all these were ignored. ALSO READ: M23 accuses DR Congo army of targeting civilians with drone strikes It should be clear to President Tshisekedi by now that neither war mongering nor his attempts to project internal Congolese challenges to his neighbours, can put an end to the humanitarian crisis in his country. He only has to do one thing and that is sitting on a table with his compatriots and have a candid conversation with an aim of finding a lasting solution. Just that. Otherwise at the look of things, the war will not be won by his ineffective armed forces, nor the militia groups they have recruited or even the mercenaries. It will be ended by a strike of a pen, only that he will have to make good on whatever they agree on. Externalising his internal challenges and projecting them on Rwanda will not yield any result.
