Makenga: European mercenaries killing Congolese people is unacceptable

The military chief of the M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sultani Makenga, has called the government’s use of European mercenaries in the ongoing battle between the Congolese people “unacceptable.”

In an interview with former Belgian politician Alain Destexhe in Goma on March 12, Makenga underlined that the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and the M23 rebels are fighting to save the Tutsi people from extinction.

“Europeans coming to our country and killing people who are just defending their rights is unacceptable,” declared Makenga, whose troops captured Goma city in late January, forcing hundreds of Romanian mercenaries and government soldiers to surrender.

“It looks indifferent, but the world should be furious.”

According to reports, the Congolese government has recruited up to 2,000 mercenaries to fight alongside its army, Burundian forces, SADC troops, and armed groups like Wazalendo and the FDLR genocidal militia.

DR Congo received little to no international censure for the practice, despite the fact that mercenary usage in armed combat is forbidden by United Nations and African Union laws.

According to Makenga, the Congolese government is encouraging ethnic violence, especially against the Tutsi population, which the M23 supports.

You witnessed firsthand yesterday in Nturo (Masisi) how a community was set on fire only because it was primarily inhabited by Tutsis. “We have to combat this hateful ethnic ideology and advance reconciliation,” he stated.

When questioned about how his troops have defeated a far more powerful and well-equipped force, Makenga responded that the rebels “fight out of conviction and patriotism with determination.”

He claimed that “we took up arms because we faced extermination and we were not going to let ourselves be wiped out without defending ourselves.” It is regrettable that the outer world does not accept this fact.

Makenga maintained that seizing cities like Goma and Bukavu was only done to eliminate the threat posed by the governing coalition and was not part of M23’s original plan.

He declared that if they were not assaulted, they would not proceed to Kinshasa, the capital. Since the rebels took over the capital, Bukavu, in South Kivu province, fighting has continued in several areas of the province.

On Wednesday, Angola declared that the Congolese government has consented to hold direct talks with M23. On March 18, negotiations mediated by Angola are set to start in Luanda, the capital of Angola.