Why Kagame accuses the world of treating Congo as a ‘spoilt child’

Speaking in Kigali during the annual Umushyikirano national dialogue forum, Kagame said efforts to resolve the crisis focus disproportionately on Kigali, despite what he described as long-standing security threats originating from Congolese territory.

“You treat a country, or a president, or a government like a spoilt child,” Kagame said, referring to how Congo is handled in international diplomacy. “The problem didn’t start in Rwanda, we didn’t cause it,” the East African quotes.

Kagame rejected claims that Rwanda is involved in Congo for economic gain, particularly mineral exploitation.

“If we were in Congo for precious metals and minerals, we’d be 100 times richer than we are today,” he said, insisting Rwanda’s primary concern is national security.

At the centre of Rwanda’s argument is the continued presence of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group linked to the Interahamwe militia responsible for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Kagame said the group continues to promote genocide ideology and poses a direct threat to Rwanda.

“They keep saying, ‘We want to finish what we started,’” Kagame said, adding that the ideology has been passed down to younger generations despite many original fighters being elderly.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing the AFC/M23 rebel group fighting Congolese government forces in eastern Congo, despite United Nations Security Council demands that Kigali withdraw troops and stop supporting the rebels. Rwanda maintains that M23 fighters are Congolese citizens addressing unresolved political and ethnic grievances.

“They say Rwanda and Burundi are twins, but Burundi has chosen to be twins with Congo,” Kagame said. While the UN has acknowledged the security threat posed by the FDLR, Kagame said Congo and its allies,  including Burundi, face little scrutiny.