Rwandan President Paul Kagame has called for accountability and homegrown solutions to resolve the escalating security crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rejecting accusations that Rwanda is fueling the conflict.
Speaking at the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa on February 14, Kagame urged African leaders to shift from blame to concrete action, asserting that sustainable peace cannot be achieved through rhetoric or external interventions alone.
The security situation in eastern DRC has worsened in recent months, with clashes between the M23 rebels and the Congolese army intensifying. The rebel group has seized more territory, including Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, and reportedly advanced toward South Kivu. The Kinshasa government has accused Rwanda of backing M23, an allegation Kigali has consistently denied. Rwanda, in turn, has accused the DRC of supporting the FDLR, a militia group composed of remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Kagame criticized what he described as a pattern of externalizing internal challenges rather than addressing their root causes. He questioned why the presence of the FDLR in eastern DRC continues to be downplayed, arguing that ignoring the group’s activities undermines Rwanda’s history and security.
“How can FDLR not exist in the minds of some people? Or why is it something that is supposed to be trivialized? When you trivialize that, you trivialize my history, and I am not going to accept it. It doesn’t matter who you are,” Kagame said.
The Rwandan president reiterated that his country will not seek permission to protect its people. “Rwanda has nothing to do with Congo’s problems. We have our own problems to deal with. Congo is too big for Rwanda to carry on its back,” he said.
The AU Peace and Security Council meeting followed an emergency session held on January 28 to address the renewed escalation in eastern DRC. Tensions surged after M23 captured Goma on January 27, and by February 14, the group announced it had taken control of Kavumu Airport, about 25 kilometers from Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.
