Panafrican News Agency

Insecurity in Eastern DR Congo: Félix Tshisekedi accuses Rwanda again in Davos

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - The head of state of the DR Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, once again singled out Rwanda during an exchange on Tuesday on the sidelines of the opening session of the 53rd edition of the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland.

"The head of state is taking advantage of these meetings to make the voice of the DR Congo heard by world decision-makers to restore the truth about the security crisis in the eastern part of the country, and to present the assets of his country to the investors present in Davos," read Wednesday's post on the twitter page of the Presidency of the DR Congo.

President Tshisekedi, in his response to questions from the audience on the sidelines of a panel on "infrastructure for a clean energy economy" in which he had participated, accused the M23, supported by Rwanda, of non-compliance with the roadmap agreed in Luanda.

"It is because of certain neighbours with belligerent intentions that insecurity is in full swing. The problem today of security in the Great Lakes region is Rwanda," he said.

Tshisekedi decried the non-respect of the Luanda agreements.

"There was a discussion in November that led to a definition of a roadmap to get out of this crisis. The meeting took place in Luanda and was attended mainly by the DRC and Rwanda.

A roadmap was agreed that decreed a ceasefire and an immediate withdrawal of the M23 supported by Rwanda on 25 November for the start of the withdrawal.

The completion of this process was expected on 15 January. The M23 is still in some localities taken from the DRC," he said.

According to President Tshisekedi, international pressure has done very little to move the lines on the ground. \

"Despite the pressure of the international community, this group pretends to withdraw and redeploys in other areas. I can tell you that since then there has been a massacre of innocent people in Kishishe to push the population to move from this locality which is full of precious materials," he said.

The Congolese head of state also revealed the proposals he had made to the leaders of neighbouring countries.

"We have nine neighbours and I had proposed development projects that will benefit our people and our economies. I had proposed projects to move towards trade that would bring peace and ensure stability in the region," he said, before blaming Paul Kagame for the conflict.

Thus, to stop the illegal traffic of "blood gold" to neighbouring countries, the DRC concluded a partnership with the United Arab Emirates through the constitution of a joint venture "Primera Gold DRC SA" whose first symbolic shipment of 28 kgs of "fair trade" gold took place on 14 January 2023.

The World Economic Forum in Davos takes place from 16 to 20 January 2023, under the theme: "Cooperating in a Fragmented World".

-0- PANA KON/IS/SOC/BBA/RA 18Jan2023