For a while now, there has been major unrest in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo with M23 rebels wrecking havoc and causing the citizens of Congo to live in fear of losing their lives.
Earlier on, The President of Rwanda Paul Kagame sent in his troupes to try and curb the situation, something that did not sit well with very many people. This led to various rumors that Rwanda was the driving force behind the M23 rebels.
Rwanda has been denying these accusations but all their explanations have been falling on deaf ears as no one has believed the President of Rwanda.
Well, this time the President Paul Kagame has made a shocking revelation regarding this ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has come out and stated exactly who is funding the M23 rebels and is accountable for the ongoing unrest in Congo. According to Paul Kagame, the sophisticated weapons used by the M23 rebel group to seize Goma came from the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC).
While speaking in an interview with a CNN journalist who has been identified as Larry Madowa, Paul Kagame strongly dismissed all the accusations that have been claiming that it is Rwanda that has been arming the rebels, instead shifting all the blame to the DRC’s own military.
“Most of it came from the Congolese armed forces. That is the major source of weaponry for the M23 rebel group,” Paul Kagame said.
Considering that there has been a conflict between Rwanda and Congo regarding the issue of who is funding the rebel group, Paul Kagame's statement is like fuel to the fire, straining their relationship further.
President Paul Kagame further stressed a strain in the relationship between Rwanda and Congo as he stated that he has not spoken to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi in a long time. As the general public was expecting peace talks between the two Countries, all that has now been trashed by President Paul Kagame's statements.
While the public watches as the relationship between Congo and Rwanda gets severely deterred, Paul Kagame seems unbothered. His remarks however have now sparked a fresh debate over the role of regional and international players in the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict.
As more doubts arise regarding this issue, the major question on the minds of many people is Who exactly is behind the sponsoring of the M23 rebels?
