On Friday, US Secretary Marco Rubio rallied Tshisekedi and his government into signing peace agreements under what was named the “Declaration of Principles.”
The brokered settlement between the DRC and Rwanda aimed to foster peace, establish a joint security mechanism, and spur economic development.
It is now clear that, following the signing of the agreement, the Kinshasa regime has found itself between a rock and a hard place. The rulers in the DRC have no idea how to control the usual appetite for corruption and how to keep their reckless armed groups in check.
For America to partly take charge of the ongoing crisis, by compelling the Kinshasa regime to tone down its hostile narrative toward neighbors and stop the politics of repression against a certain section of Congolese, Tshisekedi’s endless greed has been exposed further. It was more or less to tell him: stop your blame-game behavior, covered in mass corruption, sign the peace agreements here — you are not a saint in this.
In Tshisekedi’s delusion, if America could take every mineral in the DRC and fight M23 on his behalf, it would play to his advantage. In fact, that is what he has been lobbying for. Yet Americans have not fallen for such a trap, because they know the ruler of Kinshasa is incompetent, greedy, and that the region urgently needs peace.
Tshisekedi did not sign the agreed principles for the good of the Congolese people; to be exact, it was for his own interests — staying in power despite his failed leadership. It is no secret that the ruler of the DRC knew full well that if America said no to his failures, he wouldn’t last more than two months. That is why he has been shoving mineral deals in the face of the Trump administration.
From the look of things, Tshisekedi’s failure, endless greed, and insincerity in fulfilling his commitments are not going away anytime soon. The entire country is unlikely to benefit fully from the signed “Declaration of Principles” and it will not be another opportunity for the Kinshasa cabal to loot the country dry — this time they know the repercussions will be much higher.
Even if the US has brokered a temporary cessation of hostilities between FARDC and M23, it is only a matter of time before the incompetent regime instructs its proxy armed groups, such as the notorious “Wazalendo,” to attack M23 positions, dragging everything back to square one.
A regime that thrives on chaos, violence, and insecurity cannot be trusted to foster peace. Hoping that Tshisekedi will help bring peace to the region is like chasing a shadow — it is simply not possible.