As if the murderous activities committed by the Wazalendo against the Congolese people of eastern Congo were not enough, Tshisekedi decided to sanitize and brand them “heroes” which many considered as dancing on the grave of the innocent victims who have endured systematic persecution of these criminals.
On November 16, with a straight face, Tshisekedi brazenly told France 24 and RFI channels that “Wazalendo are heroes, not criminals like the M23”. The failed ruler forgot that global mainstream media outlets including his host have been witnessing horrendous crimes committed by the so-called heroes on a daily basis.
However, the world knows Tshisekedi’s much-praised Wazalendo are real criminals. The entire ‘Wazalendo’ coalition including the FDLR is an amalgamation of local and foreign armed groups that have been internationally sanctioned for various high-level human rights abuses. The regime-backed terrorists have been perpetrating crimes with impunity against innocent civilian Congolese of ethnic Tutsi.
In fact, most of their leaders have been individually sanctioned by the UN, US, EU, and the groups, before Tshisekedi sanitized and rebranded them as ‘heroes’, were supposed to lay down their arms through the Nairobi process.
By multiplying the number of armed groups from more than 100 to more than 266, Tshisekedi is elevating the security situation in the east of the DRC from bad to worse. With the murderous armed groups now better and dangerously armed and carrying the official endorsement of Tshisekedi, the world, and the region can only expect a long legacy of insecurity in the east of DRC and consequently the rest of DRC and the region.
Tshisekedi and his funded Wazalendos are criminals awaiting prosecution, the world shouldn’t be duped into believing otherwise.