Three prominent Congolese figures, including Nobel Prize winner Denis Mukwege, on Monday accused President Felix Tshisekedi of pushing the country towards rupture by bringing in foreign nations to address its security crisis.
In a sign of mounting pressure on Tshisekedi from the deeply troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the trio said the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa faced “fragmentation” and “balkanization”.
This is “the result of a flagrant lack of leadership and governance by an irresponsible and repressive regime,” they said in a statement.
In addition to Mukwege, a gynecologist co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work helping women victims of sexual violence, the statement was signed by the politician Martin Fayulu, whom Tshisekedi defeated in the controversial 2018 elections, and the former prime minister. Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo.
armed groups
Dozens of armed groups roam eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, many of them a legacy of two regional wars that broke out at the turn of the last century.
The latest emergency stems from a resurgent armed group called the M23, which has seized swaths of territory in North Kivu province since emerging from its slumber last year.
With the Democratic Republic of Congo’s armed forces reeling, Tshisekedi has called on a seven-nation body, the East African Community (EAC), to deploy troops.
EAC members include Rwanda and Uganda, which critics have long accused of stirring up friction in the east.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, in particular, accuses Rwanda of being complicit with the rebels, a claim Rwanda denies, although the claim is backed up in a new report by independent UN experts.
‘Outsource national security’
“Instead of providing the country with an effective army, the government has prioritized outsourcing national security, (putting it in the hands of) foreign forces and, worse still, countries that are behind the destabilization of this country,” the three said. in your statement.
The EAC force is under the command of Kenya and Kenyan troops have already been deployed. But key details about its planned size, scope and composition remain unclear.
The M23, under pressure from the international community, participated last Friday in the acts of handing over the strategic city of Kibumba to the EAC force.
I withdraw a ‘sham’
But the next day, the DR Congo army called the alleged rebel withdrawal a “sham” and accused the group of reinforcing its positions elsewhere.
Tshisekedi, a longtime opposition figure, was elected president in December 2018.
He succeeded Joseph Kabila, who had ruled with an iron fist since 2001, and whose decision to step down marked the country’s first peaceful transfer of power.
However, the vote was marred by allegations of rigging and Fayulu insists he is the rightful president, claiming more than 60 percent of the ticket.
Tshisekedi, Fayulu and Matata have already declared their intention to participate in the next presidential elections, scheduled for December 20, 2023.
