What’s happening in DR Congo is an ethnic war – Kagame tells regional leaders

President Paul Kagame has described the ongoing conflict in DR Congo as an ethnic war, urging regional leaders to urgently address the crisis that has been spilling over into Rwanda. “What is happening there is an ethnic war that has been brewing for a long time, denying people’s rights and then attacking Rwanda,” Kagame told the EAC-SADC Joint Summit in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, February 8. ALSO READ: EAC, SADC leaders approve harmonised plan for FDLR neutralisation The President stressed that the situation must no longer be ignored, calling on regional leaders to take decisive action to resolve the conflict. Kagame pointed out that Rwanda has long attempted to address DR Congo’s role in the crisis but has faced repeated resistance from Congolese leaders. The DR Congo cannot just tell us to keep quiet when they are mounting a security problem against our country. Nobody can tell us to shut up,” he said. He also voiced concerns over the repeated failure to make meaningful progress, criticizing the endless cycle of meetings with no tangible results. “We have been begging DRC and its leaders for a long time, we have shared our issues and asked DRC to address them, and they have refused. Let us not just have another meeting like the many we have had,” Kagame said. He firmly rejected accusations that Rwanda was responsible for the war, emphasizing that the conflict was initiated by DR Congo. “This war was started by DRC and not anything from Rwanda. It was just brought and put on our shoulders and we were told to own it. We can’t own it. There is no question about it,” he asserted. Kagame urged regional leaders to act swiftly and decisively. “Let us use this meeting in a manner that will put into account all these matters seriously and find a lasting solution,” he added. The peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern DR Congo through the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes was among the key resolutions highlighted at the summit. Another priority was the call for the implementation of a harmonized plan to neutralize FDLR, a DR Congo-based terrorist militia founded by remnants of the masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The genocidal militia continues to pose a grave threat to Rwanda, the entire region, and, in particular, the Congolese Tutsi communities who have been persecuted in eastern DR Congo and is contributing to the instability in the region.

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What’s happening in DR Congo is an ethnic war – Kagame tells regional leaders