Kagame Condemns International “Threats” Directed At Rwanda As US Sanction Looms

On Thursday, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame called on his nation to strengthen its self-sufficiency, amid growing pressure from the United States to implement additional sanctions due to Rwanda’s stand in the DR Congo conflict.

The small Great Lakes country has faced mounting international criticism for allegedly backing the M23 armed group, which seized extensive territories in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last year.

Although a peace agreement between Rwanda and the DRC was signed in Washington late last year, facilitated by US President Donald Trump, the M23 captured Uvira, another significant city, just days afterward.

Related: Rwanda Is Ready For War Against Congo, Says Kagame

During a January 22 US House of Foreign Affairs subcommittee session, there was cross-party agreement favouring increased sanctions against Rwanda.

At a Thursday gathering in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, Kagame seemed to address these developments by stressing his country’s independence.

He stated that the nation has “committed ourselves to be self-reliant… so that our existence would not depend on luck, or on the goodwill of others who might choose to help us today and withdraw tomorrow.”

“Self-reliance, therefore, is our main priority,” he remarked in a video posted on the official presidency’s X account.

Rwanda maintains it only operates in eastern DRC to defend against a hostile militia comprising survivors of those responsible for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, rejecting claims of direct military engagement. Kagame seemed to implicitly acknowledge Rwanda’s involvement in the conflict-torn DRC.

“When they ask you if you are in the Congo, either you say ‘no’, and the question of defensive measures we took are… seen as if they are not there. “And if you say ‘yes’, that becomes the only problem in the world to deal with,” Kagame remarked.

During the January 22 House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing, Rwanda’s US ambassador acknowledged direct “security coordination” with the M23 and its political wing, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), marking the first such admission.

“Rwanda does engage in security coordination with AFC/M23. I state this clearly to build trust through transparency,” Mathilde Mukantabana stated.

According to her, this was “to prevent another genocidal cross-border insurgency, like in the late 1990s, that could threaten Rwanda’s very existence.”