Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
24-02-2025
KINSHASA: Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi will launch a unity government, his spokesperson said on Saturday, as he faces domestic pressure over his handling of an offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern provinces.
The M23’s capture of swathes of eastern Congo and valuable mineral deposits has fanned fears of a wider war and provoked some members of the fractious opposition to openly predict his presidency will not last.
On Saturday, Tshisekedi told a meeting of the ruling Sacred Union coalition not to be distracted by internal quarrels; “we must unite … let’s stand together to face the enemy.”
Presidency spokesperson Tina Salama said Tshisekedi would form a government of national unity and make changes in the leadership of the coalition, without giving further details.
Since the start of the year, Congo has faced back-to-back losses in North and South Kivu provinces, fueling criticism of the authorities’ military strategy.
“His management is one of the causes of the current crisis,” said opposition figure Herve Diakiese, criticizing the move to form a unity government.
“Tshisekedi is more concerned with saving his power, whereas we are more concerned with saving the Congo, and this can be done with or without him.”
As Rwanda-backed rebels strolled through the streets of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s second-largest city, President Felix Tshisekedi’s office claimed it was actually still controlled by his army and “valiant” allied forces.
It was the latest jarring move from the 61-year-old leader that has fuelled a sense of worry and panic 1,600 km (1,000 miles) away in the capital Kinshasa, where some residents are looking to move their families abroad amid open talk of a coup.
“There was never any question of fighting in Bukavu. It was clear to all the people on the ground that the Rwandans and their auxiliaries were going to make their entry,” said one army general who expressed bafflement at a statement issued by the president’s office on Sunday.
Tshisekedi, he added, “doesn’t have the right sources.”
Anxiety is visible on the streets of Kinshasa as the army puts up limited resistance against the M23 group’s advance and residents question whether Tshisekedi grasps the risk it poses.
Embassies have begun using armoured vehicles for trips to the airport and sending some staff across the Congo River to Brazzaville, capital of Republic of Congo.
Three Kinshasa-based government officials told Reuters they were making arrangements to get their families out of the country.
Banker Matondo Arnold said he had already sent his family to Brazzaville after the rebels seized Goma, eastern Congo’s biggest city, in late January. “We never imagined Goma could fall,” he said.
Congo’s army on Wednesday denied “rumors” that M23 or Rwandan soldiers had been arrested in Kinshasa. In a statement, it called on residents to report suspicious people but to “avoid seeing Rwandans everywhere”, warning against stigmatizing segments of the population.
Vice Prime Minister Jacquemain Shabani said on X that residents should “remain vigilant and not give in to disinformation” meant to weaken the country during wartime.
As talk about a possible coup spread, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said that Congolese “will not accept any coup that involves the Rwandan army to destabilize the country’s institutions.” (Int’l News Desk)
