KIGALI, Rwanda
The Governor of Rwanda’s
Western Province, François Habitegeko, on Tuesday, categorically
refuted “the baseless accusations” from the spokesperson of neighbouring DR
Congo’s North Kivu Province. Governor of Rwanda’s Western Province, François Habitegeko
Gen Sylvain Ekenge, the
spokesperson for the North Kivu Governor has accused the Rwanda Defence Force
(RDF) of supporting armed elements that attacked FARDC.
The attacks were first
reported on Monday in the villages of Tshanzu and Runyoni, about 31 miles
northeast of the North Kivu Provincial capital, Goma.
At a press briefing, Gen
Ekenge paraded two men whom he alleged were captured Rwandan soldiers
supporting the M23 rebels in the Congolese territory of Rutshuru.
While accusing Rwanda of
conspiring with M23 rebels, Ekenge claimed that the two soldiers were arrested
during the attacks.
In a statement, Habitegeko
said: “We are made aware of a communiqué and media reports emanating from the
Spokesperson of the North Kivu Governor, which, in the name of FARDC, accuses
Rwanda Defence Force of supporting armed elements that attacked FARDC in areas
of Tshanzu and Runyoni.”
“We would like to
categorically refute the baseless accusations and state that RDF is not by any
means involved in the belligerent activities across in DRC. The communiqué and
media reports from the North Kivu Governor’s Spokesman allege that the two
individuals, purportedly members of RDF were captured. We would like to contest
these false allegations. The two names were mentioned by the Congolese Military
and Intelligence Delegation during DRC Rwanda Bilateral Meeting of the Joint
Intelligence Teams held on 25 February 2022 in Kigali. The Joint Intelligence
Teams were not subsequently allowed to interrogate those individuals for a
Joint Assessment as is the practice.”
Habitegeko noted that the
Rwandan military does not have any members with the names presented in the
statement by the spokesperson for the North Kivu Governor.
Habitegeko said this is “an
attempt to manipulate the opinion by presenting two individuals arrested under
obscure circumstances” more than one month ago, as elements captured in the
fighting on March 28.
The development comes after
a similar incident in November 2021 when an armed group
believed to be ex-M23 rebels, crossed into DR Congo, attacked and occupied the
villages of Tshanzu and Runyoni. At the time, sections of the Congolese media
and officials pointed a finger at RDF but the latter said it was neither
involved in nor supported any activities of the ex-M23 armed group.
The two villages, Tshanzu and
Runyoni, were the last strongholds of the M23 before they were chased by
Congolese and UN forces into Uganda and Rwanda in 2013.
Two days after the November
2021 incident, the DR Congo Armed Forces (FARDC) Chief of General Staff, Gen.
Célestin Mbala Munsense, was on an official visit to Rwanda where he held discussions centred on the regional security situation and
the fight against terrorist groups, with his Rwandan counterparts.
On the allegations that M23
elements conducted an attack on DR Congo territory from Rwanda and Uganda, Gen
Mbala at the time said: “We have opted to give time to the Expanded Joint
Verification Mechanism (EJVM) to do its work and give us precisions on the
situation.”
The two neighbouring
countries, Habitegeko noted, have verification mechanisms under the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and at bilateral
level to verify such allegations and the DR Congo should have activated them
“if they were acting in good faith.”
“We call upon EJVM and JIT to
investigate these absurd accusations against RDF.”
He noted that Kigali has
consistently offered its cooperation for the repatriation of Congolese
ex-combatants, who were disarmed and cantoned. The government of Rwanda, he
noted, should not bear the responsibility for the failure of the government of
DR Congo to conclude the process harmoniously.
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