Maximum tensions and a required balancing act for Denis Sassou-N'Guesso

There has now been great stress for several months between the DRC and Rwanda. Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting - financially and militarily - the M23, a rebel movement active in North Kivu, a region rich in raw materials over which Rwanda has its eye on. The M23, which launched an offensive last March after several years of inactivity, is said to be already responsible for the flight of 30,000 Congolese to Uganda and 36,000 internally displaced persons. This is a catastrophic humanitarian toll, denounced by many NGOs, which are calling for an emergency solution.

Last August, a report for the UN prepared by a panel of independent researchers was the ultimate trigger. The document, which was widely leaked to the press, contained photos of Rwandan soldiers illegally present on Congolese territory and documented the use of Rwandan weapons by M23 paramilitaries. These are serious accusations, confirmed on December 16 by a new expert report stating that a set of "substantial evidence" suggests direct intervention by the Rwandan army in favor of the M23. There is no longer any doubt, despite many months of Rwandan denials.

In this context, supranational organizations are becoming tougher towards Kigali. On December 31, the European Union officially called on Rwanda to "stop supporting the M23," while several non-governmental organizations urged the African Union to more firmly recognize Rwandan involvement. In mid-December, the United States, through Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, demanded that Kigali permanently end its military support for the M23, a prerequisite for the implementation of the Luanda agreement signed last November.

In the face of this persistently unhelpful dialogue, the involvement of the President of the Republic of Congo has long been desired by both parties, while Denis Sassou-N'Guesso maintains good relations with Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame. This is now done. On January 25, Denis Sassou-N'Guesso received Vincent Biruta, Rwanda's foreign minister, before welcoming his Congolese counterpart on Sunday, February 5, and reaffirming his calls for dialogue and appeasement between the two parties. The DRC is a region that the president of Congo-Brazzaville knows particularly well. In 2013, he acted in favor of a summit between Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame, also involving members of the Congolese opposition and the M23.

Today, he must perform a balancing act to accommodate both sides, which have been struggling to reduce bilateral tensions for nearly a year. This is a valuable diplomatic ballet for the international community, which benefits from the geographical and human proximity between the Congolese and Rwandan presidents and Denis Sassou-N'Guesso.

A role of mediator in which DSN has already been valuable 

In 2020, the acts of mediation by the hero of Brazzaville had already allowed to ease the tensions between Alpha Condé, the former Guinean president and his Bissau-Guinean counterpart,Umaro Sissoco Embalo - firmly opposed to a third term for Alpha Condé, and contribute to soothe the relations between the two countries.

In 2013, he had distinguished himself on the tricky Central African front to secure the Libreville peace agreements, which were supposed to ratify the end of the bloody conflict between the Séléka Muslims and the ruling party. "I told all protagonists that at the slightest misbehaviour I would not hesitate to land in Bangui," he said at the time. In 2016, he had, at the urging of John Kerry, head of U.S. diplomacy at the time, firmly committed himself to the political crisis in Democratic Republic of the Congo , establishing valuable contacts between his country and the opposition in Kinshasa - embodied among others by Laurent Monsengwo, one of the main figures of the very powerful Catholic Church in the DRC, while maintaining an active discussion with President Kabila. An involvement that will allow, after the political crisis of 2016, the holding of a presidential election in 2018, without Joseph Kabila and leading to the election of Felix Tshisekedi.

Denis Sassou-N'Guesso is also heavily involved in the Libyan crisis, as Chairman of the African Union High Level Committee on Libya, an organization promoting the search for an African solution to the political and security crisis that has been going on since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Varied interventions that are often decisive have earned the Congolese president a reputation as a fine diplomat on the international level, and a wise man on the continent. Denis Sassou-N'Guesso’s intervention could well be decisive once again, as "thousands of people are caught in the middle" of the advance of the M23, according to OCHA, the United Nations agency in charge of monitoring the situation in the region, and as the risk of escalation between the two states should not be underestimated.

Source : PressAfrik.com
Date : 07-02-2023