For President Ruto, this security crisis in the eastern part of the DRC and the current tensions between Tshisekedi and Kagame can only be resolved by “a Congolese solution”.
“As heads of state, during a meeting, we asked: the M23, are the members of this group Rwandans or Congolese? And the DRC told us: They are Congolese. End of debate. If they are Congolese, how does this become a Rwandan problem? How does this become a Kagame problem? It’s a Congolese problem,” he declared.
To this end, he called on the Congolese government to recognize that “the M23 rebellion is a Congolese problem which requires a Congolese solution.”
According to him, since the question is settled that the M23 they are Congolese and constitutes a Congolese problem, it is necessary to find a Congolese solution.
“and in our opinion, listening to all parties, whether it was the Luanda process or the Nairobi peace process, was the right way to find a lasting solution to the conflict. For the Nairobi peace process, I can speak with authority because I attended some of the meetings. The M23 wants to get involved in the dialogue. They say: Why are you locking us up, we are Congolese, we have problems, we want to talk to our government,” he suggested.
According to him, in fact, there is no better result than when aggrieved citizens are ready to engage in a debate with their government to resolve their problems.
“I do this all the time, when the opposition, for example, in Kenya, raised questions about an election that I won fair and square, six months later… I said to them, okay, let’s talk in. We sat down, we talked, it didn’t take anything away from me. We started a conversation, we resolved the issues, we brought the matter to Parliament, there is now a process,” he said.
“A military solution could not work”
Speaking on the expulsion of the East African Community (EAC) Regional Force from the DRC last December, William Ruto was keen to emphasize that the challenge in the Eastern DRC cannot be resolved through the use of military force, especially if those involved are willing to engage in conversation.
“That is why we have asked the DRC government to seriously consider using the instruments available in the Nairobi peace process, which is a dialogue process, or in the Luanda peace process, which is also a process of dialogue, or even a combination of the two. Rather, we will use the instruments of dialogue and consultation that are in place, rather we will resolve this problem,” he indicated.
Also, he said he had a conversation with SADC leaders and warned them that a military solution could not work.
“I think slowly, after several months, they are now agreeing with us on the need to rethink the question of whether we should deploy more troops or whether we should deploy more people to engage in dialogue, consultation, a conversation because these are citizens ready and willing to engage their government,” he noted.
According to him, if asked, he would say: “let’s forget to complicate this problem. This is not about Rwanda and the DRC. It’s not about Kagame and Tshisekedi. It’s about citizens and their government.”
“And if we understand it in this context, the sooner we will solve the problem,” he said.
