Luanda Process: Rwanda, DR Congo ministers discuss draft agreement on peace, security

Foreign ministers of Rwanda and DR Congo, with Angola’s mediation, on Tuesday, November 26, discussed a draft agreement on the peace and security situation in eastern DR Congo signed in the Angolan capital Luanda on Monday. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Olivier Nduhungirehe, and his counterparts Therese Kayikwamba Wagner of DR Congo and Tete Antonio of Angola met virtually to resume the discussion on the draft agreement between Rwanda and the DRC on the re-establishing of peace and stability in eastern DRC and the promotion of cordial relations between the two countries, the Rwandan ministry said on Wednesday. ALSO READ: Rwanda not responsible for DR Congo’s 250 armed groups, says envoy Rwanda remains fully committed to the Luanda process, under the facilitation of the Republic of Angola. Nduhungirehe, Kayikwamba and Antonio met in Luanda on Monday for the sixth ministerial meeting, in which they adopted the concept of operations. The ministers were negotiating an agreement that would lay the foundation for the disarmament of FLDR, a DR Congo-based terrorist organisation linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the removal of Rwanda’s defensive measures. The Luanda Process seeks to restore relations between Rwanda and DR Congo after the tensions that resulted from the conflict in eastern DR Congo, where the Congolese army is fighting the M23 rebels. ALSO READ: Who are the M23 rebels in DR Congo? Rwanda has, for years, expressed concerns about the ties between the Congolese army and FDLR, especially the integration of the UN-sanctioned group into the army in the war with the M23. DR Congo accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, an accusation Rwanda dismisses, saying the conflict is a result of governance failure in DR Congo. DR Congo’s Tutsi community has been persecuted for decades, with the FDLR among the drivers of the violence. The United Nations has on various occasions warned of genocide in eastern DR Congo. New threats to Rwanda As the ministers met in Luanda, a video showed the Congolese Minister of Justice Constant Mutamba sending threats to Rwandan leaders, which cast a shadow on the negotiations. Mutamba who visited Munzenze prison on November 24, in Goma, on the border with Rwanda, said: “We will kill all traitors, we will catch all Banyarwanda. Anyone in contact with Banyarwanda will be caught and killed.” ALSO READ: In bizarre rant, DR Congo justice minister hits the trifecta of hate He said the prisoners who “denounce” and share information about Rwandan and Rwandan leaders – whom he called “the enemy of the Congolese people” – would be released. “If you share information ... you will be released. I will let you free,” Mutamba said, adding that sharing the information would “help the country to identify the traitors. The traitors should be killed.” Rwanda government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said Mutamba’s words were “extreme provocation.” In a post on X, Makolo said: “This is why Rwanda’s defensive measures remain in place.”

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Luanda Process: Rwanda, DR Congo ministers discuss draft agreement on peace, security