A Tale of Two Countries: The Ongoing Unrest in Congo and Rwanda’s Hand in it All By: Nneka Iroha

On February 16, 2025, with Rwanda's support, rebels managed to reach the center of the Congo's second-largest city, Bukavu.[1] The rebels took control of the administrative office after facing little resilience from government forces.[2] This came the day after chaos had erupted in the city when the rebels reached its outskirts, and only weeks after rebels managed to seize the largest city, Goma, at the end of the previous month.[3] These M-23 rebels are the most infamous of the over 100 militant groups fighting for control of the country's east and have the additional support of approximately 4000 troops from Rwanda.[4] Although the country has denied it, Rwanda previously rejected calls by the United States for it to withdraw troops, claiming that the military installments in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were meant to defend Rwanda from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.[5] However, investigations and independent reports suggest that Rwandan forces have been supporting the rebels and are involved in the chaos in Goma.[6] But why is Rwanda aiding the rebels in their attempts to destabilize the already shaky country further? While the ongoing violence is often categorized as a result of ethnic conflicts or regional instability, these ignore the deliberate, strategic, sinister role countries such as Rwanda have played in keeping countries such as Congo perpetually weak.[7]

One possible answer to this could be the demand for minerals found in Congo. The country has wide deposits of highly demanded minerals such as cobalt, coltan, and gold, all those same materials that are necessities for the ever-growing global tech industry. [8]And it’s not just the inherent value of the minerals but the fact that it occupies an important place in the geopolitical competition between Rwanda and its surrounding countries.[9] Recent reports estimate that some 90% of Congo's gold exports are illegally smuggled through countries such as Rwanda and Uganda.[10] Before the M23 rebellion began, Rwanda’s largest export was gold, which was not found in Rwanda but in Congo.[11] Analysts believe that Rwanda practically considers part of eastern Congo as being within their own realm of influence.[12] Rwanda is not a major gold producer, however in 2023, the UAE declared importing approximately $885 million in gold from the country.[13] advancements in the eastern Borderlands would mean a boost in the M23 illegal mining revenues.[14] This will result in and uptake in the illicit trade of minerals, not limited to just gold, countries such as Rwanda.[15] It is believed that the mineral exports from Rwanda alone are over a billion dollars a year and that a good amount of that is coming from Congo.[16]

Another reason to consider is the aftereffects of the Rwandan genocide that occurred in 1994. Then, as many as one million people, mainly of the Tutsi ethnic group, were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.[17] Rwanda claims that militant groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) are active in the eastern parts of Congo and accuses the Congolese army of fighting alongside them.[18] The Hutu rebel group was founded by some of the individuals responsible for the 1994 genocide who fled across the border to Congo, then called Zaire.[19] There, groups of Hutu militants created militia groups to create resistance against the new Rwandan Patriotic Front.[20] Between 1995-1996, fighting broke out in South Kivu, one of 26 provinces of Congo, between refugee groups of Hutu, an ethnic group of Tutsis called Banyamulenge, the rest of the population of Kivu, and the Zairian troops.[21] This clash, which began the first Congo War, believed to have started in Eastern Congo, have often been attributed to the scars left from the Rwandan War and genocide.[22] The current embodiment of M23, founded in 2012, claims to defend the Banyamulenge and fight against the FDLR, particularly the Interahamwe and ex-Rwandan Armed Forces.[23]

Some believe in a more grim reality: Rwanda has been rumored to have effectively held veto power over the Congo's leadership since 1997.[24] This dates back to when the country helped install Laurent Kabila as the president of Congo.[25] At that time, Rwanda had planned an outright invasion of Congo.[26] With the support of Rwanda and Uganda, Kabila was chosen to lead the attack as he had a long-standing relationship with Uganda's president and was known to Rwanda's army chief.[27] However, he continued with the authoritarian practices of the previous president, Mobutu Sese Seko by filling the government with members of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire, a coalition he founded, and did not hold elections.[28] Kabila's efforts to limit Rwanda's influence on his government contributed to the beginning of the Second Congo War.[29] His term came to an abrupt end when, in 2001, he was assassinated by a bodyguard, a case that remains surrounded by conspiracy.[30] M23 has roots in rebellious movements that have been sponsored by Rwanda not only during the first Congo war but also in the second Congo war.[31]

Whatever the reason for Rwanda’s constant role in the upset and Congo, one thing is for sure: it ensures that the country will ultimately fail to develop the institutional strength it needs to challenge its neighbors.[32]

[1] Associate Press, Rwanda-back rebels take second major city in Congo, making unprecedented gains, nbc(Feb. 16, 2025) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/rwanda-drc-congo-bukavu-kivu-africa-m23-hutus-tutsis-rcna192381.

[2] Id.

[3] Reuters, Congo PM demands ‘withdrawal of Rwandan troops’ after M23 reach Bukavu suburbs, (Feb. 15, 2025) https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/un-chief-says-dialogue-must-begin-between-warring-parties-eastern-congo-2025-02-15/.

[4] Associated Press, supra note 1.  

[5] Martina Schwikowski, Why Rwanda supports M23 rebels in DR Congo’s conflict, (Feb. 22, 2024) https://www.dw.com/en/why-rwanda-supports-m23-rebels-in-dr-congos-conflict/a-68332741.

[6] Milain Fayulu & Jeffery Smith, Rwanda Keeps Getting Away With Sowing Chaos In Congo, https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/10/rwanda-congo-drc-violence-goma-m23-kagame/#cookie_message_anchor

[7] Id.

[8] Id.

[9] Schwikowski, supra note 5.

[10] Fayulu, supra note 6.

[11] Schwikowski, supra note 5.

[12] Schwikowski, supra note 5.

[13] Reuters , Congo rebel gains to boost illicit mineral trade through Rwanda, analysts say, (Jan. 28, 2025) https://www.miningweekly.com/article/congo-rebel-gains-to-boost-illicit-mineral-trade-through-rwanda-analysts-say-2025-01-28.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Emmet Livingstone, 5 things to know about the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, (Jan. 31, 2025) https://www.npr.org/2025/01/31/nx-s1-5281422/congo-goma-fighting-m23-rwanda-drc

[18] Id.

[19] Id. ; Fayulu, supra note 6.

[20] Filip Reyntjens, The great African War: Congo and Regional Geopolitics, 1996-2006, (2009) Canbridge university press, 45

[21] Id. at 21

[22] Id. at 36; Paul Nantulya, Rise of Regional conflict Following Fall of Goma and M23 Offensive in the DRC, (Jan. 29, 2025) https://africacenter.org/spotlight/risk-of-regional-conflict-following-fall-of-goma-and-m23-offensive-in-the-drc/.

[23] Id.

[24] Fayulu, supra note 6.

[25] Fayulu, supra note 6.

[26] The Guardian News Services, The Rwandan punch behind Kabila, (May 5, 1997) https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/rwandan-punch-behind-kabila.

[27] Id.

[28] Reyntjens, supra note 20, 159

[29] Reyntjens, supra note 20, 140

[30]BBC, Laurent Kabila: DR Congo frees soldiers linked to assassination, (Jan 8, 2021) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55590040; Fayulu, supra note 6.

[31] Nantulya, supra note 22.

[32] Fayulu, supra note 6.