Ignore Baseless Rumours! Rwanda’s Kagame Dismisses Reports Of Plotting To ‘Kill’ President Tshisekedi
By Uganda Online Media
The government of Rwanda has dismissed reports alleged by the Democratic Republic of (DCR) Congo that Rwandans arrested in Kinshasa were mooting a plot to shoot down President Felix Tshisekedi’s plane.
In a statement issued by Rwanda government spokesperson on Thursday, Rwanda described the allegations by the Congolese deputy Interior Minister, Mr Jean-Claude Molipe Mandongo, as a deliberate attempt to further inflame Congolese public opinion.
“In an ominous reference to the Genocide in Rwanda, officials at Tuesday’s press briefing accused Rwandan detainees of planning to shoot down a plane carrying the Congolese President as also alluded to further arrests of more people linked to African Health Development Organisation (AHDO) – a deliberate attempt to further inflame Congolese opinion,” Rwanda government spokesperson said in a statement.
“We urge leaders in DR Congo to deescalate the hateful rhetoric and turn back from the path they seem to be choosing. The International community, including those who insist on coddling the DR Congo leaders, should take note and hold DR Congo officials accountable for this escalation,” the statement added.
This comes after DRC security operatives arrested a section of Rwandans; Dr Juvenal Nshimiyimana and Moses Mushabe in Kinshasa who are said to be spies of Rwanda.
The DRC government accused the duo and others of buying a plot near the main airport in Kinshasa where they would allegedly target and shoot the plane carrying President Tshisekedi.
Addressing the press conference on Thursday, DRC Deputy Interior Minister, Jean-Claude Molipe Mandongo said, “these spies had not only infiltrated some FARDC officers but also high-profile political figures as well as the business community and civil society.”
In response, however, the Rwanda government said that two of the arrested people are their citizens working for African Health Development Organisation and have been in detention since August 30, 2022, but were paraded before the media last week to trigger ethnic violence against Kinyarwanda speakers in DR Congo.
Background
The tensions emanate from accusations alleged by DR Congo that Rwandan is supporting the M23 (“March 23 Movement”) . Kigali has since denied these accusations, but the United States, France, Belgium and UN experts confirm them.
The group has taken control in recent months of territories in the eastern DRC, a troubled region rich in mineral resources, aggravating tensions with Rwanda.
Talks between the DRC and Rwanda in Angola appeared to pave the way for a truce, but Kinshasa later accused the M23 of massacring civilians in the village of Kishishe. According to a U.N. investigation, 131 people were killed there on November 29 but Rwanda said this was a fabrication.
“The exaggerated +Kishishe massacre+, a fabrication by the DRC government which attributed it to the M23, spread rapidly without any investigation of the facts by any credible entity,” the Rwandan government said in a statement.
“Accusing Rwanda of supporting the Congolese armed group M23 is unfair and prevents addressing the real causes of the perpetuation of the conflict in eastern DRC, as well as its impact on the security of neighbouring states, including Rwanda,” it added.
Rwanda has repeatedly accused the DRC of colluding with the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), a Rwandan Hutu rebel movement, some of whom were involved in the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
A Tutsi-majority rebel group, the M23 first made a name for itself when it took the eastern DRC city of Goma in 2012, before being driven out and going dormant.
But it took up arms again at the end of 2021, accusing the DRC of not having kept its promise to integrate its fighters into the army.
