Tshisekedi distorts truth, to protect his FDLR terrorist allies

The recent peace agreement signed in Washington between Rwanda and the DRC has been hailed as a significant diplomatic breakthrough.

Its core purpose is unambiguous: to dismantle the FDLR, the genocidal militia that has terrorised the Great Lakes for decades. But barely days after the signing, President Félix Tshisekedi has begun distorting the agreement, claiming it’s about the withdrawal of Rwandan troops, a clause that exists nowhere in the text. This the beginning of a psychological operation aimed at deceiving both Congolese citizens and the international community.

Tshisekedi’s immediate spin reveals an inconvenient truth: he has no intention of implementing the deal. The Washington agreement demands the neutralisation of the FDLR. Yet Tshisekedi has made the FDLR a cornerstone of his military strategy. Rather than confront them, he has integrated them into the FARDC, the Congolese army, and allowed them to spearhead operations on the Uvira and Walikale frontline.

This calculated misinformation campaign reveals deeper structural rot. For six years, Tshisekedi has openly tolerated, armed, and politically shielded the FDLR. His regime has become the mouthpiece for their genocidal propaganda, fueling ethnic hatred against Rwanda and the Congolese Tutsi. The FDLR’s dream of returning to power in Kigali through another genocide is well known, and Tshisekedi has done nothing to stop them. In fact, he enables them. The promise of peace, therefore, hinges entirely on Tshisekedi’s willingness to reverse course, a prospect that remains remote.

History offers little hope. The DRC has repeatedly failed to neutralise the FDLR—in 2005, 2009, and 2024. Despite their known locations and supply routes, no serious effort has ever been made to dismantle them. Why? Because Tshisekedi views the FDLR not as a threat, but as a tool. So long as he props them up, no peace agreement can deliver results.

Unless Tshisekedi ends his alliance with the genocidal FDLR and stops weaponising disinformation, the Washington deal is doomed.