Rwanda’s president says he doesn’t know if his country’s troops are in DRC

CNN
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Rwandan President Paul Kagame has told CNN he doesn’t know if his country’s troops are in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where fighting between the M23 armed group and Congolese soldiers has killed more than 700 people and injured thousands in recent days.

Much of the international community believes that Rwanda backs the M23 rebels, who claimed to capture the city of Goma in eastern Congo last week. UN experts believe that an estimated 3,000 – 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are supervising and supporting M23 fighters in the east of the DRC, outnumbering the rebel group’s forces in the country.

In an exclusive interview with CNN on Monday, Kagame was asked if there were any Rwandan troops inside the DRC.

“I don’t know,” Kagame said, despite the fact that he is commander-in-chief of the Rwandan Defence Force.

“There are many things I don’t know. But if you want to ask me, is there a problem in Congo that concerns Rwanda? And that Rwanda would do anything to protect itself? I’d say 100%,” he continued.

Kagame’s stance was reiterated by the rebel group, whose spokesperson Victor Tesongo told CNN that it “receives no support from Rwanda,” describing the assumption as “a manipulation of public opinion to disqualify us.”

Tesongo claimed that Rwanda was more concerned about “its fight against the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) which are allied to the Congolese government which uses them against the security of Rwanda.”

DRC communications minister, Patrick Muyaya, told CNN Monday that Rwanda’s military presence in his country was well documented, saying, “Kagame is the only voice denying this.”

“In the past 10 days, the UN Group of Experts, the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, President João Lourenço (of Angola), and SADC (the Southern African Development Community) have all confirmed Rwanda’s military presence in eastern DRC. Kagame is the only voice denying this,” Muyaya said in his response to Kagame’s CNN interview, adding that “the overwhelming international consensus leaves no doubt.”

CNN’s Larry Madowo told Kagame that comparisons have been made between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backed local separatist forces to try and invade Donbas, an eastern region of Ukraine, in 2014.

“There will be so many stories,” Kagame said of the comparison, adding that he can’t “stop people from saying whatever they want to say.”

“I may be called anything – what can I do about it?” he asked. “We have to do what we have to do… we have to make sure we survive any storm that blows across our country.”

Kagame called the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), one of the largest foreign armed groups operating in the DRC, an “existential threat” to Rwanda. He alleged that the group was fully integrated into the Congolese armed forces, suggesting that other governments in the region also support the rebel group.

Kagame repeatedly insisted that Rwanda will do “whatever it takes” to protect itself, without giving much information about what this entails.

“Nobody,” including the United Nations or the international community “is going to do it for us,” the leader said.

When asked again if he was sending troops to the DRC, Kagame said that Rwanda will do “anything to protect itself,” telling Madowo to “read whatever you want to read from what I’m telling you.”

The simmering conflict between Rwanda and the DRC, which share a border, has since exploded following the M23’s advance into Goma.

Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told CNN that, as of Monday, 16 people have been killed in Rwanda “during the shelling from the fighting in Goma.”

Last week, DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against M23, describing the group as Rwanda’s “puppet.”

The rebel alliance told CNN it was working to “install a new administration” in Goma and would march on to capture more territories, including the neighboring South Kivu province and the national capital Kinshasa.

“Effectively our struggle cannot be limited to Goma, the objective remains to overthrow Tshisekedi and to install a new leadership capable of finding solutions to the problems faced by our people,” its spokesperson Tesongo said.