HOW THE WEST ENABLES RWANDA TO LOOT CONGO

Kayumba Nyamwasa, former Rwanda Army chief of staff and head of Rwandan intelligence from 1998 to 2002, dropped a bombshell on 2 February when he told @newzroomafrika’s @AldrinSampear that Western countries like France, the United Kingdom and the United States do not comment on Rwanda’s military operations in neighbouring countries like Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique because Rwandan companies process smuggled minerals that benefit said Western powers. 

The recent escalation in violence as the Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 militia seized mineral-rich lands in eastern DRC on its way to entering Goma city has renewed the conversation about Rwanda’s and Uganda’s roles in the foreign-instigated three-decade-long conflict over resources. 

How the West has ignored Rwanda’s activities contrasts sharply with sanctions imposed against Rwanda and aid cuts in 2012 that forced M23 to go underground. 

As early as 1998, Burundian, Rwandan, Ugandan and/or Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) soldiers emptied DRC warehouses. The looting remains a prominent feature across successive proxy campaigns, casting doubt on claims that Rwanda or M23 intervenes in the DRC only in the interests of marginalised Tutsis in the DRC.

Since M23’s resurgence in 2021, reportedly due to Rwanda fearing isolation following increased DRC-Uganda cooperation, the militia has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in eastern DRC. Reports indicate M23 is closing in around the city of Bukavu after entering Goma on 27 January. In Rubaya, which M23 captured in 2024, the group has generated around $300,000 monthly in taxes from tantalum mining. 

Video credit: @newzroomafrika (X)

Sources:

West vs Rwanda 2012

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/uk-freezes-21m-aid-to-rwanda-1.751902 

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/suspended-aid-could-return-to-rwanda-but-on-different-terms--1314648

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/africa/us-cutting-military-aid-to-rwanda-for-the-year.html 

Goma seized

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2025/02/02/rwandan-backed-m23-rebels-seize-goma-and-advance-further-into-eastern-drc

M23 $300,000 a month

https://apnews.com/article/congo-mining-m23-un-security-council-b11207ba887b352d702c3e4603d0c891

Western interests in Rwanda

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/world/africa/rwanda-france-kagame.html 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/14/europe/uk-rwanda-migrant-deal-gbr-intl/index.html https://www.mod.gov.rw/news-detail/rwanda-deploys-force-protection-troops-to-central-african-republic

Rwanda plunder ongoing for a while

https://docs.un.org/en/S/2001/357