MASWALI 🌍| ISSUE 6

Election Day in the DRC🇨🇩

AuthorAuthor

Uri Ludger & Joshua Musana
December 20, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

The DEZEMBA round up

Rishi has his way with Rwanda🇬🇧🇷🇼 - UK supreme court’s rules that Rishi Sunak’s government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful? Rishi is having none of that. Que his counter with “the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill” winning in the house of commons.

Mogadishu slides into EAC, debt free🇸🇴 - The latest EAC heads of state Summit had Somalia welcomed into the block - with mixed feelings by East Africans across the board. Warm welcome? Threat to regional security? Somali people not consulted on the decision to join? You name it. But in a positive turn of events, $4.5B debt forgiven? Everyone loves that.

Ruto makes a 2 day visit to Kenya - Yes, you read that right.Ironic right? I ‘ll let this piece by Thomas Mukhwana from Africa Uncensored do the talking.

“Diplomatic Seismic!” - The words Mwangi Maina used to describe the clash currently going on between DRC and Kenya, following the launch of a new Congo River Alliance between the M23 and Corneille Nangaa -  a US backed politician. Kinshasa has even expelled Nairobi’s resident ambassador!, and rejected an EAC observer mission for their Election today.

The Discourse

Uri🕵🏾: It’s election day in Congo man. Do you think Tshisekedi will survive?

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: It’s a close race for sure. He is up against three main opponents.

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: There’s Martin Fayula, who has always maintained that he was the rightful winner of the 2018 election and has continued to refer to himself as president-elect. 

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: There’s Moise Katumbi who’s a respected businessman and idolized for his role as owner of TP Mazembe Football club. And there’s Dr. Mukwege Denis; a celebrated gynecologist and Nobel laureate, recognized for his decades - long work in supporting women who are victims of sexual violence.

Uri🕵🏾: So what’s like the main issue around which these guys are trying to sway the public to their side?

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️:No.1 is definitely the safety and stability of the whole country, particularly Eastern DRC that is pretty much a war zone, with lots of warring factions.

Uri🕵🏾; I saw him say the election is an opportunity “to consolidate what has been achieved or to start again from scratch.” But my thing is, what’s he actually done about it while in power?

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: Tshisekedi has tried several approaches to address the fighting in the East. The most prominent strategy was to enlist the help of foreign support forces, in the form of MONUSCO (the UN) and the East African Community Regional Forces (EACRF).

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: Seems to have been a failure. Both forces are on their way out. Its kind of ironic though that despite months of criticism from within the Congolese government towards MONUSCO, they are still making “urgent”  calls to them for logistical and financial support for today’s election.

Uri🕵🏾;Man I think that just speaks to the state of affairs in Congo right now. Their intent on a successful election, but the logistical challenges, resource shortage, on top of security threats, I think surround the validity of whatever the result will be with tons of question marks.

Uri🕵🏾;So there’s all this talk about Eastern Congo being unstable. But who exactly is doing all the fighting? 🤔

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: It’s crazy just how many they are. 100+ But the most recognizable and significant groups are the ADF and M23

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: The ADF, short for Allied Democratic Forces, is a militant group formed in 1995 by Jamil Mukulu as an anti Museveni establishment. More recently, in 2018, they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State - an Iraqi insurgency group.They are responsible for a series of attacks on Ugandan soil against civilians, most recently attacking a school in Mpondwe, western Uganda. killing 2 foreign tourists and their guide, and just this week they are suspected of killing 5 people in Kamwenge

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: M23, which is more related to DRC, is a group of former rebels from the  National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) who tried to oppose the DRC government in 2006. In 2009, they signed a peace agreement with the DRC government, agreeing to become a political party, and integrate their fighters into the DRC army. They grew dissatisfied with the conditions of the integration though, and started a rebellion 3 years later.

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: Now here’s a crucial twist to the story…

Uri🕵🏾;👀👀

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: There is a linkage between the M23 rebels and the Rwandan government.

Uri🕵🏾;🤯

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: Yes. Actually, the Rwandans and Congolese have a long and intertwined relationship. But for the purpose of today, The Congolese government accuses the Rwandan government of supporting the m23 rebels. There’s actually a whole UN Report claiming evidence on the matter.

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️: Of course, Kigali strongly denies these allegations. Although, they do justify involvement in the region with the pretext of protecting national security against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu dominated armed rebel group with remnants of the Interahamwe who perpetuated the infamous 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Uri🕵🏾; Damn! And does that show up in the buzz around the election?

Malcolm👨🏽‍⚖️:Yeah man, very strongly. There’s a massive anti - Rwanda sentiment, pushed especially by politicians. Actually, while at a campaign yesterday, Tshisekedi actually threatened to invade Rwanda! 

Uri🕵🏾; Wow! We’ll need to watch this election closely. It’ll have serious consequences for DRC but the rest of the region as well. We wish them well!

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