Politics

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Hosting Signing Ceremony with DR Congo Foreign Affairs Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe in DC on April 25, 2025

On April 25, 2025,  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted a Signing Ceremony of the Declaration of Principles between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Rwanda. The ceremony, held at the US  State Department  in Washington, DC was attended by the  two countries' foreign affairs ministers:   the Democratic Republic of the Congo  Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.  The ceremony happens a few days after a digital press briefing led by U.S. Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub in Washington, DC,  in which the US Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos reinforced the call from the USA Government regarding  the illegal invasion and presence of thousands Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) troops  in the eastern DRC, under the cover of M23 rebels, and urged the Rwandan government to cease all military support to M23 and to withdraw all Rwandan troops from DRC territory. 

 The plan of actions on the agreement remains to be clarified. In fact, the agreement  is  a "declaration of principles" with broad statements on the objectives. The proposed actions, the key milestones, and the engagement of specific actors are still to be defined.

Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos with DRC President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa in April 2025

On April 17, 2025,  after the trip to the DR Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda by the US Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos and Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Corina Sanders, a new step milestone was reached.  During  a digital press briefing led by U.S. Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub in Washington, DC,  US Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos reinforced the call from the USA Government regarding  the illegal invasion and presence of thousands Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) troops  in the eastern DRC, under the cover of M23 rebels, and urged the Rwandan government to cease all military support to M23 and to withdraw all Rwandan troops from DRC territory. 

According to AfroAmerica Network sources in DR Congo and Rwanda, following the call, the leaders and the people in  DR Congo have continued to  thank  the US Government for its  actions and stands, while the Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame and RDF top military leaders, very angry against the US Government, has become even more  worried about the next steps and the actions by the US Government, going to the point of cursing the leaders of the  world powers and institutions to "go to hell."

RDF/AFC/M23 soldier in Walikale on March 20, 2025

 On Wednesday March 19, 2024, troops of Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) and Ugandan People Defense Forces (UPDF), under the cover of Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)/M23, have captured the territory of Walikale, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo or  DRC). The capture happened as the world was still processing the unexpected and shocking meeting in Doha, Qatar, between the Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and  Rwandan dictator Paul Kagame, under the facilitation of  the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday, on March 18, 2025 about the crisis in eastern DR Congo. The capture of Walikale, a step towards invading the strategic town of Kisangani and then advancing to Kinshasa,  happens when the Qatar Meeting, Luanda Process, and appeal to the US complicate, even worsen the political and military dynamics, already in scramble.