A US congressman advises Tshisekedi to take peace negotiations seriously

US House of Representatives member Joe Wilson has urged Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi to make significant progress toward peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, stressing the need of committing to measures to de-escalate hostilities.

On Wednesday, February 5, Wilson wrote on X, “Felix Tshisekedi needs to take the peace process in the Eastern [DR Congo] seriously right now.”

The congressman chimed in on the crisis, which intensified on January 27 when AFC/M23 rebels took control of the vital city of Goma. The leader of Congo has consistently denied that peace negotiations with M23 are possible.

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) will convene in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Saturday, February 8, to discuss ways to end the violence that has soured ties between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Rwanda rejects the Congolese government’s accusations that it supports the M23 rebels, citing the threat to security presented by the alliance of the Congolese army, the genocidal FDLR militia, Wazalendo groups, Burundian forces, and SADC troops, as well as their ambitions to attack Rwanda.

The EAC chiefs of state met on January 29 to discuss the problem, but Tshisekedi did not attend. Among other conflict parties, the EAC leaders insisted that the Congolese leader “directly engage” with the M23 rebels.

“The EAC-SADC summit in Dar es Salaam is a chance for [DR Congo] to collaborate with Paul Kagame for peace, rather than assign blame and escalate tensions,” the U.S. lawmaker stated.

“Tshisekedi is in charge of the Goma crisis,” he continued.

It is anticipated that Tshisekedi and Kagame would both be present at the meeting in Dar es Salaam.

Tshisekedi’s absence during leaders’ discussions of the DR Congo crisis has been cited by President Kagame as a hindrance to efforts to find a long-term solution.

“You have to look for the cause of your problems. In an interview with CNN on February 3, Kagame stated, “So, the man has a problem, and he doesn’t even appear for discussion to find the solution.”

As other leaders attempted to address the dispute and its origins, Kagame also charged Tshisekedi with manipulating them during the EAC conference.

He claimed that this was the reason why earlier initiatives by the bloc to resolve the DR Congo issue had failed, such as the deployment of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) in late 2022, which was driven out by Tshisekedi a year later.

Tshisekedi later ejected the force, which had been able to maintain a ceasefire for at least six months, since he was upset that it had refrained from joining his coalition’s raids on M23 locations, which would have gone against the force’s neutral actor mandate.

Kagame recalled that Tshisekedi sent everyone else packing because he believed we weren’t doing what he wanted. He went to SADC, which agreed to come and do what he wanted.

“And that we obeyed and said nothing, what did we hope to gain from that?” Kagame remarked, pleading with the EAC leaders to acknowledge the consequences of the fruitless peace initiatives.

Kagame emphasized that the FDLR, a group established by survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and backed by the Congolese military, and the persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities are two of the conflict’s core causes that must be addressed in order to end it.