The news has not been very good for the Rwandan armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as one-by-one their heads are decapitated. First it was the commander of the FDLR rebels, Silvestre Mudacumura. The reverberations of his elimination, in the middle of breakfast, are still being felt and he was the first in the long list of others to follow. Many other armed groups are being routed in the South and North Kivu provinces and thousands have given themselves up begging to be repatriated to Rwanda. While this string of military successes by the Congolese forces would have, in normal circumstances, been welcomed, it is driving some people up the wall. None more than former Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu has been rattled to the bones as one of the armed groups he leads is being decimated. Now he is crying for help alleging that it is Rwandan refugees in eastern Congo being killed by the DRC forces with Rwanda’s involvement. He conveniently forgets that just a few days ago, he had mobilised Rwandans to join his armed group in eastern DRC. One other group that seems confused is a Congolese NGO, Lucha, which is infatuated by Rwanda and sees its presence everywhere. Instead of the so-called human rights defender welcoming the successes of the Congolese forces against negative forces that have held the region hostage for more than two decades, it sees Rwanda’s hand. That is the same confusion with BBC which seems to have become the sounding board for the armed opposition especially its Kinyarwanda service. But whatever the case, Congolese citizens must be the ones heaving a sigh of relief as the menacing dangers of armed groups are quickly being snuffed out.
