For too long, eastern DR Congo has known nothing but betrayal. It has known only empty speeches from the regime of Felix Tshisekedi; a brutal tyrant empowering brutal militias to terrorize eastern DRC communities – namely Kinyarwanda speaking citizens.
But on the ground, a new Congolese military-political movement, M23/AFC, is proving itself different, not just through battlefield victories but by reshaping daily life in the Congolese territories they liberate.
In contrast to Tshisekedi’s rule, marked by endemic corruption, collaboration with genocidal FDLR forces, and a total collapse of services, the M23/AFC has begun exercising real state authority. Local administrators report that in liberated zones, markets have reopened in total security, roads are being repaired, and schools have been functioning again. These are concrete signs that governance is returning where the Miyibicrates regime of Tshisekedi had long abandoned its Congolese citizens. Far from being the “rebels” Tshisekedi propaganda claims, M23/AFC acts as a genuine Congolese movement rising from the ashes of betrayal to restore dignity and stability.
The Congolese movement’s commitment is not limited to replacing faces at the top. It is about transforming the lived reality of millions. By stabilising liberated zones, removing the predatory armed groups Tshisekedi’s coalition shields, and directly tackling rampant insecurity, M23/AFC is building the groundwork for sustainable development.
This is a profound change. For six years, the Miyibicrates regime of Tshisekedi’s answer to underdevelopment in the Kivus was to do nothing, or worse, fuel chaos by arming criminal proxies. The M23/AFC, by contrast, is doing the hard work of administration and reconciliation, even as Tshisekedi shouts “sovereignty” from air-conditioned offices hundreds of miles away.
Beyond local governance, the M23/AFC’s broader mission aims at ending ethnic violence and restoring social harmony long destroyed by Tshisekedi-backed militias. Where Tshisekedi’s coalition forces spread terror, rape, and displacement, the M23/AFC enforces discipline, protects civilians, and reopens dialogue between communities. These are not the actions of foreign puppets or “rebels” but of Congolese patriots determined to rescue their homeland from a failed elite.
The contrasts are stark. The regime of Tshisekedi, which has presided over looting, war crimes, and deepening poverty, still lectures the world about “sovereignty.” Yet sovereignty means nothing if your citizens live in fear, your roads are bandit territory, and your only state presence is the taxman extorting the poor. Real sovereignty starts when a government, any government, secures its people and provides basic services.
That is precisely what the M23/AFC is doing at the moment.