🎬 Foul play detected?

Good morning. Guys…it’s happening:

— Tayo Davies, Edna Akanni.

POLITICS
“We’re not ready to settle”: DR Congo & Rwanda

Casual reminder that we’re all human: Political leaders can protest too.
Casual reminder that we’re not all equal: When they do, they garner more attention.

Over the weekend, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi staged a walkout in the middle of a speech by French Pres. Emmanuel Macron. According to reports, Macron's remarks addressed the ongoing conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza but skipped the humanitarian crisis currently ongoing in eastern DRC.

Well…what’s happening?

The DRC, as well as the U.N. group of experts, accuse Rwanda of having deployed troops in support of the M23 ("March 23 Movement"), a predominantly Tutsi rebellion that has seized large swathes of territory in its mineral-rich region since 2021.

On the other hand, Kigali which denies supporting M23, says it has only taken what it calls defensive measures and accuses Congo of fighting alongside a Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which has attacked Tutsis in both countries.

Foul play detected? In July, the foreign ministers of both countries had agreed to a harmonization plan drafted by Kigali. According to the plan;

• Kinshasa would launch operations to ‘neutralize’ the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), to respond to the concerns of Kigali.

• In return, Rwanda would commit to a ‘disengagement of forces’ -not named M23- in the DRC.

The only catch? Rwanda would only fulfill its commitment five days after Congo had neutralized FDLR forces. Sensing foul play, Kinshasa called off the deal.

As for France, Pres. Macron had hoped to have a 3-way meeting this weekend with both presidents. Neither was interested, leaving Macron to hold talks separately to encourage them to conclude a peace agreement. -EA.

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