Kelvin Jakachira
GOMA – The Alliance Fleuve Congo/M23 rebel movement controlling territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) says a political solution is the best option to resolve the country’s multi-faceted problems.
Interviewed in Goma, by The Lesotho Times, the AFC/M23 said it is fully behind the ongoing peace processes and hopes this time around DRC President Felix Tshisekedi will respect and honour agreements aimed at restoring peace in eastern Congo.
The rebels accuse Tshisekedi of violating previous peace agreements, leading to a resurgence of war.
Speaking at the damaged Goma Airport, which will soon undergo rehabilitation, AFC/M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said they are hoping that Tshisekedi will this time around stick to the agreements and allow ongoing political solutions to succeed.
“We are involved in the Qatar peace process but you have to know that this is not the first time we have agreed with the DRC delegation,’ Kanyuka said, adding: “We did through Nairobi, through Rwanda but Tshisekedi flouted the peace process. So we hope this time around he will own up and accept what would have been agreed. Most of the time he never respects peace agreements signed by his government.”
“Already he has started sending his troops to attack our population to attack our positions. We are reminding the international community that the DRC continues to attack civilians. We want to solve this problem politically because there is no military solution to this problem. We want to solve the root cause of this conflict which has been hanging over our heads and our families for a long time.”
During the tour of the North Kivu province, journalists visited Nturo Village in Maisisi where up to 300 ethnic Tutsi villagers were burnt alive by the Congolese military coalition in an ethnic cleansing bid.
The AFC/M23 is helping to rebuild the lives of the traumatized community in Masisi through construction of houses for them.
The AFC/M23 said they are fighting for the rights of the minority Congolese Tutsi community who have been persecuted for decades at the hands of Kinshasa and a myriad of brutal militia groups, including the FDLR, linked to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The M23 is currently controlling a vast swathe of territory following a military blitz which resulted in the rebels taking control of both Goma and Bukavu, the capitals of North and South Kivu provinces, respectively.
Goma was captured in January 2025, while Bukavu was seized in February 2025. Following talks through the Luanda/Nairobi processes and a joint summit by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC), Tshisekedi met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Doha, Qatar, in March.
The Nairobi process led by the EAC, now combined with the Luanda process, is aimed to facilitate dialogue and negotiation between the DRC government and armed groups.
The EAC deployed a regional force to support peace efforts, with former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta serving as the facilitator, but it was later withdrawn at the behest of Tshisekedi who was unhappy the EAC force deployed in the eastern DRC was not fighting the rebels. It was then replaced by the SADC troops drawn from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi whose mandate was to shore up the DRC military against the rebels.
The Luanda process focuses on the inter-state dimension of the crisis, particularly between the DRC and Rwanda. Angola has played a key role in mediating talks between the two countries. Despite key agreements and commitments, implementation remains a challenge. The African Union (AU) has initiated a quadripartite process involving the EAC, Economic Community of Central African States, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and SADC to promote coherence and coordination among regional initiatives.
Following various peace initiatives, the AFC/M23 movement has agreed to a ceasefire to allow the processes to resolve the conflict.
The SADC mission was terminated after it failed to help the DRC army defend the territory which was seized by the AFC/M23.
SADC troops and the DRC military were fighting alongside eastern European mercenaries, the FDLR, which comprises remnants of the perpetrators of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and Wazaledo, a coalition of militia groups.
After failing on its mission, SADC leaders resolved to terminate the mission and decided to pursue a political solution to the conflict together with the EAC. Qatar and the United States have also stepped forward with separate peace processes.
The M23 rebels resumed fighting in 2021 after nearly a decade of inactivity during which time the number of militia groups in the eastern DRC grew to over 250 under the watch of the United Nations peacekeeping mission.
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