Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. Authorities in the government of Uganda on Tuesday last week denied accusations that the country is supporting the deadly March 23 Movement (M23) rebels in the war in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). DR Congo and Wazalendo fighters claim that the Ugandan soldiers are fighting alongside the M23, but the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) denied these allegations.
Wazalendo’s allegations
The claims have been fuelled on social media in the DR Congo, with politicians in particular adding fuel to the fire. This followed the spokesperson of the Wazalendo Jules Mulumba on releasing a statement on X formerly Twitter accusing UPDF soldiers of fighting alongside M23 rebels to capture Sake town in North Kivu Province. Mulumba also posted some pictures of UPDF armoured vehicles claiming that they are near Sake. “The Ugandan army with its artillery is in full manoeuvre in support of that of Kagame but we will resist them until the end. Here it is on the Kitchanga-Sake axis. Vengeance will be tenfold. Save this date”, Mulumba’s statement said. Civil society figures and some former ministers also claim that the Ugandan army is playing a double game: on the one hand, it is supporting the DR Congo army in a war against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), while on the other it is playing for the rebels when it comes to the war against the M23.
Refuting claims
Upon hearing the DR Congo’s rumour, the UPDF issued a statement saying that they have no reason to get involved in an internal conflict unless it is a regional peace effort. The UPDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Felix Kulaigye in a statement described Mulumba’s accusations as falsehoods stating that UPDF soldiers have never stepped in Sake. Kulaigye instead accuses Mulumba of using photos of UPDF soldiers when they were on a legal East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) peacekeeping mission in 2023 in Tchengerero along Bunagana-Rutshuru road in Rutshuru territory to support that UPDF is fighting alongside M23. He added that the picture posted by Mulumba was taken when Uganda’s Contingent to East African Community Regional Force was in the Tesegero general areas of the Bunagana -Rutshuru to Goma axis not Sake. Kulayigye also accused Mulumba of trying to justify Wazalendo’s losses to M23 to dag the UPDF in the conflict. “Mulumba, who is the spokesperson for Democratic Forces for Liberation of Rwanda aka Wazalendo, and they are trying to justify their losses to M23 with such allegations,” Kulayigye said. The Ugandan Embassy in Kinshasa also issued a statement saying that in the age of social media, several people regularly spread rumours and accusations between Uganda and DR Congo. For Ugandan officials, this is nothing more than a “recurring pattern…a concerted effort to sow discord and undermine positive relations between Uganda and the DR Congo.
Words retaliation
Shortly after UPDF released a statement, Mulumba released another statement saying “And this is how they treat the Congolese as fools, here they are denying the evidence seen and experienced by the Congolese as well as the Ugandans on both sides of the border. And from the outset the Wazalendo let us become FDLR.” Officially the DRC government has claimed that the Kigali government under President Paul Kagame is behind the M23 rebel group.
The M23
More than 120 armed groups are operating across large swathes of eastern Congo, including M23 rebels, which the government of DR Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting, but Rwanda denied the accusations. The M23 staged a major offensive in 2023, seizing territory, forcing thousands of people from their homes, and sparking a diplomatic row between DR Congo and Rwanda. The M23 rebels, largely Congolese Tutsi militia, have seized swaths of territory across North Kivu province, edging toward the region’s main city of Goma.
EAC involvement
In 2022, seven heads of state from the East African Community (EAC) including Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, South Sudan, and DR Congo agreed to establish a joint force led by Kenya to help restore peace and stability in Congo’s volatile Borth Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri provinces. The forces were led by the command of Kenyan General Jeff Nyagah, who since November 2022 has been based in Goma, a major city near which the M23 has concentrated its activity. At first, the priority was to destroy the M23 but some leaders of the seven countries comprising it have since said it is only a “neutral” force. On 29th March 2023, the Ugandan government flagged off the 5,000 People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) army for a peace mission in the DR Congo. Uganda was fulfilling the promise made in 2021 to send 1,000 troops to DR Congo to join a regional force mandated to help end decades of instability in the North Kivu province.
UPDF withdraws from Congo
In December 2023, the UPDF completed the total withdrawal from the war-torn province of North Kivu, eastern DR Congo. This followed the DR Congo government’s declining to renew the mandate of East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) troops that were in the province under a peacekeeping mission that expired on December 8, 2023. Congo’s decline was sparked by a section of civilians and political activists accusing the troops of failure to launch an assault against the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels. This is not the first time Uganda has been accused of interfering in DR Congo’s security affairs. Uganda first went to DR Congo in 1996 to support rebel groups fighting against the government of former President of Congo Joseph Desire Mobutu Sese Seko claiming that Congolese armed groups allied to his government were a threat to Uganda’s security. After Mobutu was overthrown by his son Laurent Desire Kabira, the new president found himself in conflicts with his former allies, Uganda and Rwanda, whom he accused of supporting a planned coup. Kabira decided to expel all foreign forces including Uganda.
Paving way
At the beginning of this month, the president of the Republic of Uganda H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta met in Uganda to discuss the regional mandate alongside recent developments in the Eastern DR Congo. There has been fierce fighting in Masisi territory for the last two weeks as M23 rebels were fighting to capture Sake town without success. Located about 25 Kilometres northwest of Goma, Sake town is the last barrier town for M23 to capture Goma city.
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