How are the Presidents of Rwanda and Uganda viewing the ongoing deployment of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) in the M23-controlled North Kivu region in the Eastern DRC?
The United Nations have continued linking the M23 rebels to President Kagame and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, whom they say bankroll their activities in the mineral-rich region KDF has been deployed.
”As for M23, I think it is very, very dangerous for anybody to fight those brothers of ours. They are NOT terrorists! They are fighting for the rights of Tutsi in DRC,” General Muhoozi Kianerugaba, also President Museveni’s son tweeted on Sunday, three days after President William Ruto flagged off a platoon of KDF soldiers to fight the rebel group in the DRC.
Kivu borders Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, and has an estimated underground wealth of USD 24 Trillion. Kigali and Kampala have been accused of sponsoring in the region while taking the underground wealth.
Why did the country agree to send the KDF to a region that has been occupied by Rwandan and Ugandan-backed troops for the last three decades?
Before leading his troops to capture the Rwandan presidency in 2000, Paul Kagame was at one time President Museveni’s Chief Intelligence officer and in 1997, him and Museveni rallied their troops to back Laurent Kabila and made him the DRC president. Kabila was the main chef to the two Presidents.
The DR Congo government said on Saturday it was expelling Kigali’s envoy from the country over what it said was Rwanda’s backing for the M23 rebels who have made fresh inroads in the east of the country.
