By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe has alleged that his Congolese counterpart had refused to sign an agreed deal to help mitigate the activities of M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a group that has displaced over 1.7 million people.
“We were ready to sign … but the Congolese minister refused. She first commented on the report and then later, after consultation, she came back. She told us she was opposed to adopting the report,” Nduhungirehe said on Saturday.
He spoke on the sidelines of a summit of leaders from French-speaking countries in France.
Both countries participated in negotiations in late August aimed at easing the conflict, which has deepened the region’s long-running humanitarian crisis and at times raised fears of a wider war.
Nduhungirehe told newsmen that delegates to the talks, including Congo’s head of military intelligence, had agreed and signed a plan “for neutralising a Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and lifting Rwanda’s defence measures”.
This agreement was due to be signed by ministers on Sept. 14, he said.
The Tutsi-led M23 has been waging an insurgency in the central African country’s violence-torn east since 2022.
Congo, the United Nations, and others have accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the group with its own troops and weapons, an allegation Kigali has repeatedly denied.
According to Nduhungirehe, the plan foresaw the actions against the FDLR taking place first, followed a few days later by Rwanda easing its “defence measures.”
He added that the Congolese minister objected to these not happening at the same time.
Congo and Rwanda’s leaders, Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, both attended the summit in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron had proposed a three-way meeting, but the two ended up having separate private audiences with Macron.
