by THEOGENE RUDASINGWA
It is a big shame that UN peacekeepers could not protect the Congolese in Goma from the onslaught of Rwandan-backed rebels M23. Washington and London, Kagame’s allies, have made him more intransigent.
For the last several months Rwandans, Congolese, Africans and the international community have watched as the predictable drama from Paul Kagame’s regime plays out once again in the Kivu region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. With the birth of M23, the Kigali regime re-engineered the mutation of an old proxy force, the CNDP, into a new one with the same agenda: 1) weaken DRC, 2) loot its natural resources, 3) pretend that Rwanda can now solve the problem by paying lip-service to negotiations, 4) deceive the world that Rwanda is after Rwandan armed groups, especially FDLR and 5) use this presence in DRC to manipulate the international community against looking at the problems within Rwanda itself. In all this President Kagame’s trademarks remain deception, total disregard for human life, and disrespect to the international community.
First, where is Africa in all this? It is African countries, notably through the African Union, that chose Rwanda to represent the continent at the UN Security Council. Like Rwanda, DRC has been bleeding for several years, and has lost 6 million of its citizens due to Kagame’s wars of plunder and killings. Can’t Africa save DRC and Rwanda from the most vicious and brutal dictator since Idi Amin?
Second, the United Nations has a peacekeeping operation in DRC: over 20,000 personnel and an annual budget of close to $1.5 billion. What is the United Nations doing in DRC if it cannot defend a small African city like Goma, women and children? The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has become too close to President Kagame that he has lost objectivity in dealing with the crisis in DRC. In 2010, when the Mapping Report was published, Ban Ki -Moon hurriedly packed his bags and went to Kigali to beg Kagame not to pull out Rwandan troops from Sudan. The Mapping Report has been shelved. Now as the Goma drama unfolded Ban Ki-Moon called Kagame, pleading that the latter ( Kagame) ‘use his influence’ to stop the advance of M23 on Goma. Incredible! It is the same United Nations that has rewarded Kagame with a seat on the Security Council, and is now failing to hold him and his officers accountable for the violations of international law.
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