Rwanda: President Kagame Presses Regional Solution at UN Meeting on Eastern DRC

press release

New York — The crisis in the eastern DRC is an African problem that can be solved by Africans, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame told the United Nations today.

Speaking at a High Level Meeting convened by UN Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon, President Kagame invited delegates to back peace efforts spearheaded by the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

“Regional initiatives are key to finding a lasting solution and anyone who wants to help should support them because they are the best option we have. All that is needed is to support, not supplant, their efforts,” President Kagame said.

President Kagame warned against “externalising” the DRC crisis — blaming external actors for the problem and seeking external solutions — when such an approach “effectively absolves blame from those with primary responsibility”.

“The many armed groups in the country are the outcome of a complex, long-standing historical reality. Therefore singling out one group out of many is running away from the actual issue.”

Rwanda rejects allegations of involvement in the current mutiny, and President Kagame stressed that solving the crisis will be impossible if the international community continues to define the issue erroneously.

“A durable solution will clearly come from addressing the real issues of governance in DRC and dealing with the genuine grievances of its citizens, even as efforts to end the current crisis are exerted.”

President Kagame described as “perplexing” the degree to which the international community focuses on the current mutiny at the expense of the much broader challenges present in the DRC, in the eastern region and beyond. In particular, he cited the the plight of Congolese of Rwandan descent who remain targets for rape, torture and murder as a result of their ethnic origin, and yet are mostly ignored by the DRC government, human rights organisations and NGOs.

“The problems in DRC are complex and longstanding, and therefore, applying simplistic or expedient solutions to resolve them, without going to their historical and political roots, will only gloss over them but not deal with them definitively.”

"Rwanda stands ready to play its part in finding a peaceful end to the crisis in the DRC, particularly as part of a durable regional solution."

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  • salnundu
    Sep 29 2012, 18:25

    The Devil Kagame is offering solutions to the crisis he created and which has cost about 6 million lives in Congo. The solution is simple, bring to justice any person who lives in Congo or outside of the country that picked up arms against Congolese civilians and contrubuted to the 6 million deaths in Congo and hundreds of thousand savage rapes to Congolese women and children. This should be Congo's priority by any means.

  • Tesskay
    Sep 30 2012, 05:44

    The lack of cohesion, not to mention the sense of responsibility, in political and intellectual arena in DRC... is probably due to the fact that they had to surrend to the negative forces since the time Stanley settled down by the river Congo. Probably the most devasting aftershocks of Colonisation in Africa... Today time is to rise and shine, since we own the richest assets on earth: mostly our land, our people and our values!!! A.k.a Agaciro

  • Charles Frith
    Sep 30 2012, 07:47

    If anyone can recommend an article outlining Kagame's crimes please email me on cefrith at hotmail dot com thanks.

  • serge65
    Sep 30 2012, 11:36

    The solution to the problems in the east of the DR Congo is Kagame removal, period. There is room for development, reconciliation, harmony, legitimate trade in minerals for everyone, especially for the west as Congolese will be much better off by trading with the west then with China but this can happened only with the departure of Kagame who is a very negative influence for the region. He must respond for his crimes to the ICC.

  • mregis66
    Sep 30 2012, 14:43

    Dear Salnundu. You can't comment on Congo without mentioning Kagame? Are you aware of Congo history pre and post colonial erra, thus to know the source of cause to all these problems? Have you heard about Interahamwe (If you are not the one)of Rwanda and their current relationship with some of UN official as well as FARDC high ranking officials? Please, if you dont have information, you better shut your burking mouth up!!!

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