Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pointed out that the root cause of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lies in ethnic politics that were fueled by foreign influence, dating back to the leadership of Rwanda’s former president Juvénal Habyarimana and Zaïre’s Mobutu Sese Seko.
Museveni made these remarks on Wednesday, March 28, while addressing participants of the 12th high-level meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism on peace, security, and cooperation in the DRC, held in Entebbe at his offices.
Among the participants was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DRC, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner.
Wagner and her country have repeatedly told the international community that Rwanda is to blame for the security crisis in their country due to its alleged support for the M23 rebel group.
However, contrary to Kinshasa’s accusations, Museveni pointed fingers at Mobutu and Habyarimana, who chose to institutionalize colonial-era ethnic divisions introduced by Belgian colonizers as the true origin of the crisis.
He stated, “We know the issues and we can resolve them. We understand all these countries: Rwanda, Burundi, eastern Congo, Tanzania, and Kenya. These are our people. From my perspective, these problems are easy to solve. They are not difficult.”
Museveni explained that the failure to resolve the crisis in the Great Lakes region is due to three reasons: mindset, ideology, and the proposed solutions.
He recalled that more than 30 years ago, after Mobutu’s and Habyarimana’s forces were defeated by the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) and fled, Mobutu was asked several times to disarm them, but he refused.
“The forces of Mobutu and Habyarimana were defeated in Rwanda and fled to Goma. We pleaded with Mobutu to disarm them. He refused because he believed internal armed groups were not a threat and that neighbors like us didn’t matter. The ones advising him were foreigners helping him and Habyarimana,” he said.
Museveni expressed disbelief at Mobutu’s decision, saying, “Why did Mobutu refuse to listen? We were here and we could have helped him.”
The same forces Mobutu refused to disarm later formed the FDLR rebel group, widely considered one of the key destabilizing forces in the Great Lakes region, and a major factor in the First Congo War that overthrew Mobutu in 1997.
Museveni concluded by emphasizing that achieving peace in the Great Lakes region requires everyone involved in the process to contribute, while also calling on foreign powers to refrain from excessive interference in local matters.
