The other day in Paris, Patrick Muyaya stood before a section of the Congolese diaspora and bragged about DRC imaginary diplomatic successes.
Among the many points he reportedly raised, one stood out for its recklessness. He claimed that Rwanda as a “case” inside DRC was a sorted issue, that it was only a matter of time before it is uprooted. He went further and declared that recent sanctions would “collapse Rwanda’s prosperous economic model.”
But let us revisit the facts. The sanctions in question targeted the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and a few of its senior commanders. These individuals do not own supermarkets in Washington, they do not run logistics firms in New York and RDF as an institution does not export coffee to the United States or trade minerals with American companies.
If anything, Muyaya should be reminded that Rwanda’s economy is not the RDF. Visitors land in Kigali for conferences, wildlife safaris, and investment forums, earning millions of dollars in tourism for the country. Banks operate. Hotels fill. Farmers export tea and coffee. None of these sectors procure military hardware. None depend on the RDF to invoice American companies. The idea that targeted sanctions on military officers will collapse tourism receipts is not analysis. It is foolish, wishful thinking.
In his delusions Muyaya further stated that Rwanda’s case was not only sorted but that it is a matter of time, before “it pulls its troops from DRC.” But RDF is not M23 – the latter a Congolese liberation movement that’s giving the Kinshasa coalition a bloody nose.
Meanwhile, Kinshasa celebrates what it calls diplomatic victories. Yet whispers grow louder that in exchange for symbolic sanctions, it has conceded vast mineral leverage to foreign interests. Sixty percent (60 percent) is not pocket change. It is generational wealth signed away under the illusion of geopolitical applause.
In line with security in the East and possible coordination between Rwanda and M23, Congolese should know fall from Muyaya’s filthy lies. The relationship between Rwanda and the M23 is often dramatized, but the core issue remains the collaboration between FARDC and FDLR, the genocidal militia which Kinshasa has failed to decisively separate itself from this force.
If Muyaya believes M23 will disappear because of symbolic sanctions, he is misreading the terrain. Armed conflicts do not end through press conferences abroad, they end when root causes are addressed. The diaspora may clap, but reality is stubborn.
And reality does not collapse because Kinshasa incompetent regime wishes so or highly squander public funds to corrupt it.
ellenkampire