Over the weekend M23/AFC and the Congolese government signed yet another “Declaration of Principles” in Doha.
On paper, the deal sets out goals for peace, national unity, restoration of state authority, return of displaced people, and a rejection of hate speech, among others. Yet, the question has been, to what extent can the agreements get implemented?
At the centre of it, there is an important clause talking about permanent ceasefire, with detailed points banning attacks by land, air, sea, or lake, and promises of a verification mechanism. But with everything we’ve seen on the ground, one wonders the possibility of this clause when Tshisekedi and his allies in FDLR, Wazalendo, and Burundi’s National Defence Forces have been building military capabilities in different parts of South Kivu with an aim of taking over the cities of Bukavu and Goma.
The ceasefire section of the Doha agreement includes commitments to end military attacks, avoid seizing new ground, halt sabotage, and refrain from hate propaganda. It also states that all forces engaged in the conflict will be bound by these rules, and that a monitoring mechanism will be created to ensure implementation. In principle, this sounds constructive and optimistic but on ground none of these elements exist. The DRC government has no credible oversight structure, no monopoly on force, and no political will to rein in its own ethnic militias.
Instead of showing leadership, Tshisekedi continues to gamble with regional stability. The joint operations between Congolese forces and foreign allies like General Neva of Burundi have one clear military goal, to encircle and retake key eastern cities. If this is the agenda behind Kinshasa’s ceasefire signature, then the Doha agreement will only remain on paper. It was about repositioning. The buildup around Uvira, the targeting of civilian populations, and the refusal to engage displaced communities prove just how detached Kinshasa government is from its own promises.
Even before the ink dried in Doha, people in Minembwe were being targeted and executed, and coordinated hate campaigns against Congolese Tutsis continued across South Kivu. These were not isolated incidents, they are symptoms of a broader state policy that thrives on scapegoating and ethnic incitement.
For a government that claims to want peace, Kinshasa has continued to fuel war on all fronts. The very forces that Tshisekedi is supposed to be divorcing, dismantle, demobilize and repatriate to Rwanda, including the genocidal FDLR and violent other local militias remain not only his main partners but the very actors of sabotaging what has been signed in Doha.
There can be no permanent ceasefire under these conditions. The language of peace has become a diplomatic shield for a regime that survives on war. Unless Tshisekedi is held accountable for these contradictions, the Doha deal will go the way of Nairobi and Luanda, another empty pledge in a long catalogue of state deception.
ellenkampire