The president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, has alleged that the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is trying to “find a way to have the next elections postponed” by linking Rwanda to the problem there.
The Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi was accused by President Paul Kagame of fomenting “grounds for an emergency so that [next year’s] elections don’t take place.”
President Kagame claimed that the president of the Congo didn’t win “the first elections,” but Kinshasa hasn’t yet responded to his assertions.
Mr. Kagame said it was a “shame” that so many parties and nations “claim to want to resolve the problem” that has persisted for decades in a lengthy, unusual speech delivered in parliament on Wednesday.
He warned strong nations—including the US, UK, France, and the UN—against blaming or accepting Rwanda’s responsibility for the unrest in eastern Congo. He charged UN forces with failing to exterminate the FDLR, a Rwandan rebel group, and other groups operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He also refuted allegations that the Congo-DR was being defrauded of resources by Rwanda.
“One thing we are not, we are not thieves,” he said.
“They are accusing us of stealing Congo’s minerals. How about the destination?” he questioned.
The M23 rebels, according to Mr. Kagame, are Congolese rather than Rwandans, and the Kinshasa government is to blame for their uprising for breaking prior agreements with the group.
He said Rwanda could help to address the problem of the M23 and other rebel groups “because we are interested in a stable neighbourhood”.
