Vincent Karega, former ambassador to DRC, on the root cause of the conflict between the DR Congo and the Kinyarwanda speaking community (Part One)

The Long Form with Sanny Ntayombya

Once again, the decades long conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and its myriad of players in in the news once again.

This time because of the UN Group of Experts Report that was leaked to media at the start of last week. The Report details the arming and financing of the FDLR by the DRC Government, M23 activity and makes allegations about Rwanda’s involvement in the conflict. These allegations were rubbished by the Rwandan government in a statement that was released on Thursday.

The M23 is just the latest manifestation of what is the historic tension between the Congolese state and the Kinyarwanda speaking people of North and South Kivu.

What is this tension about? When did it start and will it ever end? How did Rwanda get roped into Congolese internal affairs?

To answer these questions, I am joined by Vincent Karega, Ambassador-Designate of Rwanda to Belgium. Once Rwanda’s ambassador to South Africa, his last diplomatic posting was to the DRC in 2019. His posting was cut short after a mere three years as relations between the two countries soured.

Amb Karega stint in DRC’s capital wasn’t his first taste of Congo. In fact, he was born in 1963 in Walikale in North Kivu and left Zaire (as DRC was then know) for the first time as a 27-year-old as a naturalized Zairean citizen.

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