This week, the M23/AFC movement and the DRC government are supposed to meet, once again, in Doha. Part of the discussions on the agenda will focus on the exchange or release of prisoners, among others, an aspect that the two parties are building on to establish confidence.
On the side of M23, the intent is clear. The movement wants to honor the framework of confidence-building that was agreed upon in earlier rounds. It has shown readiness to implement resolutions and demonstrate goodwill. But on the side of Kinshasa, deception remains the only constant. Tshisekedi’s government has turned every dialogue into an empty ritual of lies, where commitments are signed in daylight and buried by night.
The release of prisoners was meant to be a symbolic step toward restoring trust between the two sides. Yet what Tshisekedi has offered instead is death and disappearance. Jean Marie Vianney Rutayisire, a Rwandan entrepreneur who was among those due for release under the Doha framework, died last week in DEMIAP, the military intelligence detention center, after a horrific ordeal. Another businessman, Edouard Mwangacucu, has vanished altogether, his whereabouts unknown despite reports that he too was in custody.
What happened with those victims are not administrative errors. They are deliberate acts of betrayal and animosity on the side of Tshisekedi bloody regime. Tshisekedi’s record is a trail of broken promises and violated accords. Each meeting and each agreement with his government ends the same way, with empty words and fresh graves.
Even before setting foot in Doha, Kinshasa’s delegates have already rendered the meeting meaningless. They travel at taxpayers’ money to pretend negotiations are ongoing, when in truth, no one in Kinshasa believes M23 should even be at the table. In their usual arrogance, they dismiss M23 as “empty shells supported by Rwanda,” a view that exposes not only their contempt but also their ignorance of the realities on the ground.
It is this particular dishonesty that has made every Doha session a waste of time. Tshisekedi’s government neither respects agreements nor understands diplomacy. It negotiates with one hand extended and the other holding a gun.
For M23, dealing with such a regime is like signing a contract written in disappearing ink. Every assurance fades the moment it is made. The Doha process, meant to be a platform for reconciliation, has instead turned into a smokescreen for Kinshasa’s inaction and duplicity.
So, as the two sides gather once again in Doha, one thing is already certain, it will end like the previous rounds. More photo ops, more statements, more deception. Because as long as Tshisekedi remains the face of Congo’s peace efforts, peace itself will remain nothing but a mirage.