Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Vincent Biruta refutes allegations that Rwanda wants balkanisation of Congo
The Government of Rwanda has refuted allegations that it wants to balkanize eastern parts of Democratic Republic Congo, in what some opposition politicians said is a plan of expanding its territory.
In December last year, Adolphe Muzito, Spokesperson for Lamuka, a political coalition in DRC told journalists that for his country to be peaceful, Congo
has to invade Rwanda as well as annexing
it to its territory in order to end 20 years of insecurity in eastern Congo.
Recently, the archbishop of Kinshasa, cardinal Fridolin
Ambongo visited, Beni territory in Northern Kivu, where he met
“extreme poverty” and “traumatized people” due to insecurity and influx
of people immigrating from Uganda and
Rwanda.
Rwanda’s Minister in charge of foreign affairs, Dr
Vincent Biruta on Wednesday while briefing
press, he denounced allegations
that Rwanda has in plan to annex eastern Congo.
Biruta said that such statements are from “politicians
and certain clergymen are irresponsible and unfounded."
Since his election in 2018, President Felix Tshisekedi
tried to amend strained relations that had been existing between DRC and
Rwanda.
He visited Rwanda twice last year, and President Paul
Kagame flew to Kinshasa in June to attend Tshisekedi’s father, Etienne
Tshisekedi funeral.
Rwanda’s national carrier, Rwandair has regular flights
to Kinshasa which begun last year.
Minister Biruta told journalists in the capital Kigali that
there is an attitude from some Congo’s politicians who think that to be popular “you have to demonize Rwanda and tell
the Congolese that there is a plot against the DRC”.
“But I do not believe that these statements are likely to
jeopardize the good relations between the DRC and Rwanda, because they are state to state
relations. We appreciate what the DRC has done through operations against armed
groups in eastern DRC.”
Recently, Congo’s army, FARDC launched military operations against some
foreign armed forces that have
destabilized the eastern part for two decades.
Some Congolese people
allege that Rwanda’s army have crossed to help FARDC eliminate rebel
groups, the claim that Rwanda denies.
