Muyaya Dismantles Rwanda’s Justifications in Canada

The recent conference at Saint Paul University in Ottawa displayed Congolese resilience and determination in the face of three decades of aggression in eastern DRC. On February 25-26, 2026, Patrick Muyaya, Minister of Communication and Media and Government Spokesperson, addressed an engaged audience of professors, researchers, students, and members of the Congolese diaspora. Muyaya was unapologetic and deeply patriotic: the Democratic Republic of Congo will no longer tolerate the lies, exploitation, and manipulation that have fueled endless suffering in its eastern provinces.

Minister Muyaya dismantled the false narratives peddled by Rwanda to justify its repeated interventions since 1994. He described how Kigali has developed an insatiable "taste" for the DRC's mineral riches, gold, coltan, cobalt, and more, concentrated along the eastern border. "Rwanda acquired a taste for the exploitation of mineral resources of the DR East," he declared, pointing to the strategic Gold Belt that nature placed right at the frontier. Peace and stability, he argued, directly threaten these economic ambitions, which is why Rwanda has engineered a series of proxy forces, what he called its successive "sons," to keep the region in perpetual chaos.

From the AFDL (Rwanda's "first son" in the late 1990s) to the RCD, CNDP, and now the resurgent M23 (with its AFC alliance), these groups have served one purpose: maintain insecurity to enable looting. Muyaya highlighted verifiable evidence, including Rwanda's skyrocketing mineral exports despite having few domestic mines, and UN reports documenting support for M23.

He firmly rejected the recycled pretext of the FDLR as an existential threat to Rwanda. These remnants from 1994, now mostly elderly refugees, have been in DRC for over 32 years. "If they were truly a threat," he noted, "Rwanda's own ambassador once admitted they are not." The DRC has repatriated many and conducted operations, but sustainable solutions are impossible while Rwandan troops occupy Congolese soil.

A particularly emotional thread ran through his remarks: the instrumentalization of Congolese communities, especially the Banyamulenge and Tutsi populations. "M23 does not represent the Banyamulenge community," Muyaya insisted. "Crimes committed by M23-AFC are not imputable to the members of this community." He emphasized that the Banyamulenge are Congolese like any other, victims of stigmatization and division sown by external actors. In frank discussions at the DRC Embassy in Ottawa, he met with community members, stressing joint actions for living together and rejecting the "venom of division" (PoisonRwandais) injected by "the father" (Rwanda) and "the son" (M23). No threats or intimidations, he affirmed, will deter patriotic commitment to unity and truth.

This is not President Félix Tshisekedi's war; it's a conflict imposed since 1994, claiming millions of lives, decimating families, and orphaning generations. The DRC, with nine borders and a doctrine of peace, has always sought coexistence. Yet it refuses to be a victim forever. Muyaya outlined a multi-front strategy, military, diplomatic, economic, judicial, and informational, to end the aggression. He invoked the Washington Agreements and ongoing efforts, while warning that true peace requires justice, not pretexts.

OPINION

The Congo stands tall. The Congo is awakened. The Congo is united. In Ottawa, the conference was a call to collective responsibility, a rejection of resignation, and a reaffirmation of sovereignty. As Minister Muyaya concluded, the DRC is destined for greatness, a driving force for the continent and humanity. No more lies. No more exploitation. Only truth, dignity, and a sovereign path forward.

The people of the DRC deserve peace built on justice, not submission. The awakened giant will no longer sleep while its wealth is stolen and its children perish. The time for truth has come, and Congo will prevail.

By Neema Asha Mwakalinga