Tensions with the Congo
Hitler comparison causes outrage in Rwanda
December 10, 2023, 7:00 p.m
At a campaign event, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo compares his Rwandan counterpart to dictator Adolf Hitler. In Rwanda the government is outraged and speaks of a “clear threat”. The relationship between the two statesmen has been tense for some time.
Tensions between the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Rwanda, which have been going on for years, escalated further over the weekend. A spokeswoman for Rwandan leader Paul Kagame reacted sharply to a campaign speech by his Congolese counterpart Félix Tshisekedi, in which he compared Kagame to Hitler.
At a campaign rally in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tshisekedi accused the Rwandan head of state of pursuing expansion goals similar to those of Hitler. But he will tell Kagame that if he wants to behave like Hitler, “he will end up like Hitler.”
Kagame’s spokeswoman Yolande Makolo spoke of a “clear threat”. It is part of a series of “provocations that the DRC president is using to distract attention from his failures in security and governance,” said Makolo.
The east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which borders Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, has been rocked for years by bitter fighting between pro-government militias and the M23 rebel movement. This has conquered large areas of land since the start of an offensive at the end of 2021. According to Kinshasa and several Western countries, the group, which consists largely of members of the Tutsi ethnic group, is supported by Rwanda. Kigali rejects this.
Tshisekedi had previously described Rwanda as a “terrible neighbor” that wanted to seize the wealth in the east of his country. Presidential elections are scheduled for December 20th in the DR Congo. Tshisekedi, who has been at the head of state since a disputed election in 2019, is running for a second mandate.