{"id":110026,"date":"2025-09-15T10:54:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T10:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/afc-m23-movement-gets-over-7000-new-commandos"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:22:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:22:50","slug":"afc-m23-movement-gets-over-7000-new-commandos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/afc-m23-movement-gets-over-7000-new-commandos","title":{"rendered":"AFC\/M23 movement gets over 7,000 new commandos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>The AFC\/M23 movement on Sunday, September 14, formally reintegrated 7,437 new commandos composed of former Congolese government soldiers, Mai Mai and Wazalendo militia, who defected to the rebel movement during the capture of cities under its control in eastern DR Congo, including Goma and Bukavu, alongside newly recruited members.<\/p>\n

The ceremony, held at the Rumangabo Training Centre in North Kivu Province, was presided over by the movement\u2019s military leader, Maj Gen Sultani Makenga, and political leader Corneille Nangaa. The newly integrated forces have undergone six months of intensive military training.<\/p>\n

Gen Sultan Makenga.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Gen Makenga commended the determination and resilience of the recruits, stressing their readiness to serve the nation with discipline and commitment.<\/p>\n

“You are now the soldiers of the Congolese Revolutionary Army (ARC),” Gen Sultani Makenga, the AFC\/M23 military coordinator, told the thousands of troops at the Rumangabo base.<\/p>\n

“The ARC is the liberation army for our country. The country has been destroyed by the Kinshasa government led by Tshisekedi. It’s a government that is killing its citizens over how they look and their tribe. The government is bombing villages, everything is being destroyed, even the army.<\/p>\n

“The army has been turned into a rubbish bin. They mix the army with armed citizens, now called Wazalendo, they mix it with the FDLR; they mix them with Imbonerakure, who behave like Interahamwe. And they mix them with soldiers from other countries. Tshisekedi hired mercenaries and these are treated better than the Congolese. He has no respect for the country, the army or the Congolese people. He doesn’t fit to lead Congo.”<\/p>\n

On this occasion, Nangaa extended an appeal to those still undecided, urging them to join the revolution and contribute to what he described as the rebuilding of the country destroyed by bad governance.<\/p>\n

M23 officers during the pass-out of over 7000 new fighters.<\/p>\n

The AFCM23 movement on Sunday, September 14, formally reintegrated 7,437 new commandos composed of former Congolese government soldiers, Mai Mai and Wazalendo militia.<\/p>\n\r\n