Ugandan army chief says coming for Congo city of Kisangani

KAMPALA, Uganda

Uganda’s army chief claimed on Sunday that his troops or the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group would enter the key Congolese city of Kisangani in the coming days.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, said either the Ugandan army or M23 would be in the city in “one week”.

The Rwanda-backed M23, a Congolese armed group, has seized control of large swathes of eastern Congo in recent months.

But it has not indicated plans to advance on Kisangani, a strategic city in the centre of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The M23’s closest position is the town of Walikale, some 450 kilometres (280 miles) away, and the group said earlier this week it would withdraw from Walikale to support “political dialogue” with the government.

Kainerugaba is known for provocative and unfiltered comments on Twitter and X that have occasionally caused diplomatic problems.

Uganda plays a complex role in the decades-long unrest in the eastern DRC, operating in other parts of the region at the behest of the Congolese government to tackle different militias.

But Uganda also has close ties with Rwanda, and Kainerugaba met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Thursday.

“Our people of Kisangani, we are coming to rescue you. God’s Army is coming!” Kainerugaba posted on X.

“In one week either M23 or UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Force) will be in Kisangani. By order of Yoweri Museveni, Commander-in-Chief of UPDF!” he added.

The seizing of Kisangani by M23 would be a significant escalation of the conflict, taking the armed group much deeper into Congolese territory.

Kisangani is a commercial hub and a key transit point at the meeting of three rivers on the way from the east to the capital Kinshasa.

It would also be a major advance for Uganda, which has been operating in the eastern state of Ituri, whose capital Bunia is some 700 kilometres from Kisangani.

M23 has in the past threatened to march all the way to Kinshasa and overthrow the government of President Felix Tshisekedi.