 |
In
an exclusive interview with The London Evening Post at the Silver
Springs Hotel just outside the Ugandan capital Kampala on Thursday, Rene
Abandi the spokesman for the March 23 (M23) Movement, accused the Kinshasa
regime of pandering to war rather than seeking solutions to the problems of the
country that have seen over 30 different organisations take up arms to fight
the Kabila regime.
Mr
Abandi who is head of the M23 delegation to the Kampala peace talks with the
Kabila regime, accused the DRC government of wasting the time and goodwill of
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who has put facilities in Kampala at the
disposal of both delegations to sit down and discuss the best ways to end the
DRC conflict that has now gone on since the early 1990s.
“Kinshasa
could be underestimating our capacity since we [accepted] a ceasefire and
withdrew from Goma”, Mr Abandi said. He was referring to last year’s capture of
the eastern DRC town of Goma in November last year by the M23 who later
withdrew after serious objections from most African Union member states.
Speaking in a calm but strong voice that sounded full of confidence in what his
Movement stood for, Abandi said his delegation had returned to Kampala last
Sunday with the view of restarting the stalked peace negotiations with the
Kabila government.
He
said while the Kabila Government arrived in the country by private jet on Wednesday,
they returned soon after, having called upon the Chief Facilitator for the
talks, Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga and taking photo-call
opportunities with selected Ugandan and international media houses before
boarding their plane and returning to Kinshasa.
Abandi
revealed that his Movement is yet to receive communication from the facilitator
to update them on the way forward. He said since their arrival, they had been
sitting around at the Hotel with almost nothing to do. But he denied
allegations that his delegation of four people including himself was feeling
rejected as they had returned to Uganda for the sole purpose of trying to find
a solution to their country’s problems. “We [don’t] feel rejected. We are not
here for statement but purpose. [We do not care] if they (the DRC government
delegation) are on the right direction of the Kampala network.
The
M23 accused the Kabila Government of not taking into consideration the
views of UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and the UN Special Envoy for DRC,
former Irish President Mary Robinson who wants to have sincere talks to resolve
the conflicts than resort to war. “They neglect Ban ki–Moon as they are
targeting to use the UN force because their army has failed. They want to use
[UN] peace keepers the as a deterrent,” the M23 spokesman said.
He
went on to say that while his Movement wants a ceasefire, the DRC delegation
wanted to stall the meetings “because they don’t believe in peace”. “We are not
frustrated with what they are doing as we know them very well,” Abandi said,
adding: “They accepted dialogue in order to ease pressure so [that we could]
leave Goma for a dialogue but have no political will to solve the problem. They
use this to steal money, [engage in] corruption or cheat, change the constitution
and also show off.”
Abandi
accused the Kabila government of not caring anymore about the plight of the
Congolese. “This is bad governance with no moral authority to the people of
Congo,” he said. While admitting to not having a time frame for dialogue with
the DRC delegation, Mr Abandi said his Movement wanted to resume dialogue as
soon as possible. Asked about the current situation in eastern DRC following
internal clashes the Movement had early this year, Abandi said the Congolese
people still had a lot of faith in them. He revealed that even if the talks
fail, they will simply return to areas under their control and would not be
mounting any attacks on anybody else.
“We
know they are willing to attack us but there will be nothing but to react. We
will repulse them,” the M23 vowed. He once again denied accusations that Rwanda
and Uganda were arming and giving them military support. Claiming this was an
old story that no one else refers to anymore, Mr Abandi said the UN had now
found out the truth about these claims.
He
appealed to the Ugandan government to put more pressure on the DRC regime to
return to the negotiating table and avoid imposing war on the people of the
DRC. Asked what advice the M23 can give to the Kabila regime, Abandi said: “You
know when the leadership is tired and lacks vision, it becomes anxious. That is
now the problem. They think they are losing. A peace talk is a win, win
situation. No loser no winner. If a leader has such an attitude, it is then a
pity.”
Turning
to his countrymen, Mr Abandi asked them to “gather together and honour our
views and overcome statements of hate of Easterners and Westerners vis-à-vis,
Kiswahili speakers to Lingala speakers, local mother languages and others”. “We
are going back to Kivu so as push with political means [in] a democratic
manner.”
Abandi
said since they retreated from Goma at the end of last year, the M23 has grown
strong through the support of the people. “We are no longer splitting.
Our army is still the most disciplined than ever, but of course being
strong doesn’t push us to change our style which is, durable peace can only
come through dialogue,” he emphasized. Now stationed near Goma Rune, Abandi
said they are monitoring the situation and if they are attacked, the attacker
will lose ground and equipment.
He
said so far the pending pertinent issues the M23 is faced with is security,
social-economic issues and political matters in war-torn areas. The M23 is now
occupying the areas along the borders with Uganda and Rwanda in the areas of
Rutshuru District and Nyiragongo areas in the Eastern parts of Dr Congo areas.
Source:
thelondoneveningpost.com
0 comments:
POST A COMMENT