By Ian Wafula:
Protesters in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have been burning portraits of Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame and tearing up Rwandan flags as M23 rebels have taken control of most of the eastern city of Goma.
Their fury is focused on Kagame, who they accuse of backing the rebels—an accusation long made by the United Nations (UN).
To put it bluntly, a group of UN experts maintains the Rwandan army is in “de facto control of M23 operations”, detailing how M23 recruits are trained under Rwandan supervision and supported by high-tech Rwandan weaponry.
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Goma, which lies at the foot of a volcano near Lake Kivu, sits on the border with Rwanda. It is the capital of mineral-rich North Kivu province—and is an important trading and humanitarian hub and the base for the UN’s largest peacekeeping mission.
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The city had also become a refuge for those fleeing the conflict between M23 fighters and the army that erupted again in late 2021—with the population swelling to around two million.
They all face further turmoil as fighting erupted there on Sunday night with loud explosions echoing through the streets, which are now strewn with bodies. The exact circumstances of what is going on is unclear as phone lines are down and electricity and water supplies have been cut off.
But the M23 seem to have captured most, if not all, of the city.
“There was no question that there are Rwandan troops in Goma supporting the M23,” said UN peacekeeping chief Jean- Pierre Lacroix, though he added that it was it was difficult to tell the exact numbers on the ground in Goma.
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Tellingly, some Congolese army soldiers in Goma—who surrendered on Monday—did so by crossing over the border into Rwanda.
Since the conflict begun, Kagame has repeatedly denied any involvement in supporting the M23 rebels, who are well equipped, well armed and well trained.
However, this response has noticeably shifted as accusations continue to grow with “overwhelming evidence” showing Rwanda’s support for the rebel group, according to Richard Moncrief, International Crisis Group’s project director for the Great Lakes
‘The tone has changed to justification for defensive measures,” he told the BBC. “It has become harder to deny Rwanda’s support for M23.”
On Sunday, Rwanda’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “This fighting close to the Rwandan border continues to present a serious threat to Rwanda’s security and territorial integrity, and necessitates Rwanda’s sustained defensive posture.”
It said it was concerned by “misguided or manipulative” statements that lacked context about the conflict.
For Kagame, the context all comes down to the Rwandan genocide that took place over 100 days in 1994.
The ethnic Hutu militia involved in killing up to 800,000 people—the vast majority from the Tutsi community—fled to what is now DRC, some forming the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
This rebel group is still active in the notoriously unstable eastern DRC—and still includes some of those responsible for the genocide.
Kagame, who headed the rebel Tutsi force that ended the killing more than three decades ago, sees this “genocidal militia” as an existential threat.
His government has twice invaded DRC, saying it wants to stop Hutu rebel groups from staging cross-border attacks.
Earlier this month, he called out his Congolese counterpart, Félix Tshisekedi, for failing to deal with the FDLR and talk to the M23, saying this was exacerbating the conflict.
Moncrief believes that the targeting of Goma is more about making a political point as he says the M23 does not need the city strategically as it already “controls many more lucrative areas”.
“It is President Kagame’s way of exerting power over who is in charge of North Kivu,” said the Great Lakes expert.
Rwanda accused the military governor of North Kivu, who was killed in fighting last week, of collaborating with the FDLR.
The discovery of this kind of high-level collaboration, experts agree, would have been like a red flag to a bull for Rwanda.
The M23’s origins are tied to these tensions—it is the latest incarnation of a rebel group that says it is fighting for the interests of the minority Tutsi community in eastern DRC.
Its first uprising more than a decade ago ended with a peace deal—when its fighters disarmed and mainly moved into camps in Uganda.
But three years ago, they began leaving the camps saying the deal was not honoured and within a couple months were seizing territory.
The UN peacekeeping mission—first deployed in 1999—is not mandated to go on the offensive.
Two regional forces—an East African one followed by a southern African one—specially deployed over the last few years at the request of Tshisekedi have failed to contain the M23.
This gives an indication of the M23’s sophisticated operations.
According to the UN group of experts, this includes five months of training at the M23’s main base in Tchanzu, hilly terrain not far from Rwanda’s border, that incorporates courses on theory and ideology and then practical elements including “war tactics”, “engagement rules” and “bush tactics”.
It said Rwandan officers were often at the camp, where recruits, including children, were brought—some joining up on a voluntary basis, others forced to do so in a systematic operation where local chiefs had to provide conscripts.
The experts said Sultani Makenga, who once fought for Kagame in the early 1990s in Rwanda and is now the M23’s military chief, attended some of the passing-out ceremonies between September 25 and October 31 2024 that involved 3,000 recruits.
Rwanda’s spokesperson Yolande Makolo did not address the question of whether Rwandan officers were in the M23 camp but she did deny the charges about child soldiers, telling the BBC last year: “The claim about recruiting minors in camps is absurd, it’s blatant information warfare against Rwanda.”
However, UN expert reports detail how the M23’s strength has grown since May when numbers were put at around 3,000.
