The United States has brokered a peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Washington on Friday.
Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Olivier Nduhungire and Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Francophonie Thérèse Wagner signed the historic agreement for a comprehensive peace between the two countries.
This follows months of escalating violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo between the two countries.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio witnessed the signing.
According to a statement from the US State Department, technical teams from both sides initialed the proposed agreement on June 18th that will include a number of provisions, including the establishment of a Joint Security Coordination Mechanism.
President Trump took to social media on June 20th, saying he was very happy to report that they had arranged a “wonderful treaty” between the DRC and Rwanda – describing the war in eastern Congo as one known for violent bloodshed and death and a conflict that had gone on for decades.
The agreement, brokered by the State of Qatar and the United States, includes provisions on the respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities, disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration of non-state armed groups; the establishment of a Joint Security Coordination Mechanism; the facilitation of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, humanitarian access and a regional economic integration framework.
Instability
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has experienced long-term political and security instability. Many peace agreements have been signed. However, these agreements were later violated.
The DRC is a country with many natural resources, including rare minerals. Yet, the Congolese people have never reaped the benefits.
There has been constant conflict in the DRC, and its leaders have been targeted. For example, former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was assassinated in 1961.
Another important incident was the killing of former DRC president Laurent-Désiré Kabila in 2001.
Despite many peace agreements being signed, none have lasted.
More questions than answers
The peace agreement facilitated by the United States has raised more questions than it has answered. This is what former President Thabo Mbeki said last month. “The notion that you can negotiate that the government of the Congo and the government of Rwanda must meet and sign a peace agreement is fine. That it is going to solve the problems of the eastern Congo is wrong. This has been tried, and we keep saying to people, to everybody, the problems of the eastern Congo are domestic to Congo. They do not originate from outside the borders of Congo, so whatever the Americans have been doing to encourage Kinshasa and Kagame…it does not solve the problems of Congo. The problems must be solved by the Congolese people.”
The former DRC President Joseph Kabila is back in the country and has joined forces with the Congolese in the eastern DRC.
Many fear that the exclusion of those who are in control will affect the implementation of the peace agreement.
Earlier this year, both the M23 Rebels and the government were pulling in different directions.
M23 Spokesperson Manzi Ngrambe said, “So, who should really retreat from Goma? Is it the people who are bringing peace or the people who are causing havoc? So, in short, we are not going anywhere, and everything else that has been tested in 2013, they said, ‘Oh, get out of the Goma and people did it. Did Goma get peace? Did our people come back? So, it human rights they always thinking about for some people and not for others? Doesn’t the UN know that we have had hundreds of refugees outside the Congo since ’94? What did they do, how long do they plan for us to go back?”
Minister of Communications in the DRC, Patrick Muyaya said, “The DRC is a very large country where we have like 450 different tribes and we are doing our best, as they want, to make sure we all are loving living in the same country and we don’t have those kinds of speech here. Even if it’s true, President Kagame cannot pretend to protect a community by killing others. Community people from DRC did not in any way ask President Kagame to be their defender, and even if he wants to be the defender, he should make sure he’s acting in a good way. To make sure he’s advocating for them. If there is any problem, it’s not by killing people, it’s not by committing a massacre, it’s not by continuing to loot our mineral resources, especially the mining resources.”
The continent will be watching with keen interest as both Rwanda and the DRC embark on the implementation of the peace agreement.
Read full agreement in the link below:
Washintong Peace Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda
-Additional reporting by Bonolo Maribe
