Link to Article: https://www.africanews.com/2022/03/29/drc-army-accuses-rwanda-of-supporting-rebel-group/
Summary: The Congolese Army alleged the Rwandan Army was backing a active rebellion in eastern DRC, which Kigali denies. On Monday evening, General Sylvain Ekenge, who is a spokesman for the military governor of North Kivu province, accused the Rwanda Defence Forces of supporting the M23 rebel group. The M23 group has been active in the Tchanzu and Runyoni and have attacked the Congolese Armed Forces in these locations. Patrick Muyaya, The Congolese Minister of Communication and government spokesman, said, “It is time to put an end to this form of hypocrisy or this form of complicity between the M23 and the government of Rwanda,” he then followed this by saying, because we want to look at Rwanda as a partner country, as we look at Uganda”. Rwanda however says they will refute the “baseless accusations” and says that the Rwandan Army “is in no way involved in warlike activities” in the DRC. Rwandan spokesman also said that the two alleged Rwandan soldiers that were arrested in the DRC were not soldiers of Rwanda and that they were arrested more than a month ago.
Analysis: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is making extremely bold claims, when having little concrete evidence. In the article it says that they have had months of speculation that the Rwandan Military is supporting the M23 Rebel Group. However speculation is just speculation at times. As of right now it’s hard to tell who is telling the truth and who is lying because the evidence that DRC has is minimal and all concrete evidence they have against Rwanda is disputed by Rwanda. It is also interesting to see how different news sites paint different pictures of the same topic. In a previous article it was said that all three countries (Rwanda, DRC, and Uganda) are working together in order to stop the M23 rebel group from causing havoc. This article however points out how the DRC and Rwanda distrust one another as the DRC believes that Rwanda is involved with the M23 and Rwanda is dealing with these accusations and are arguing their innocence.
How this relates to class: This shows us how governments react to each other and how they act. DRC has accused Rwanda to be supporting the M23 rebel group and now they are both doing political gymnastics to either clear their name and be innocent or properly prove that one is guilty. There is also the case of the DRC saying that they wish to have a similar relationship with Rwanda as they do with Uganda. This relationship being the common interest of stopping the violence caused by the M23 and other rebel groups. This alliance between Uganda and the DRC will not be easy to replicate with the DRC and Rwanda. It’s hard to trust someone that either accuses you of helping a rebel group or to trust someone you believe to be helping the very rebel group you are fighting.