{"id":2000121825,"date":"2026-08-08T11:20:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000121825"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:56:11","slug":"minister-nduhungirehe-says-washington-deal-needs-implementation-not-renegotiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/minister-nduhungirehe-says-washington-deal-needs-implementation-not-renegotiation\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Nduhungirehe says Washington deal needs implementation, not renegotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speaking on The New Times\u2019 Context programme, Nduhungirehe said the agreement does not need to be renegotiated or supplemented with new arrangements, but requires political will from the parties and the mediator to implement its provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe agreement itself is comprehensive enough. What we need to do is to implement it. We don\u2019t need to renegotiate it because we agree with its content,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said the Washington Accords built on the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) agreed between Rwanda and the DRC for the neutralisation of the FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda\u2019s defensive measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Washington Agreement was actually taking the concept of operations that we had agreed on already in Rwanda for the neutralization of the FDLR, genocidal force, and the lifting of Rwanda\u2019s defensive measures,\u201d Amb. Nduhungirehe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He rejected a recent protocol announced between the DRC government and the FDLR under which the armed group said it was prepared to disarm and undergo demobilisation and reintegration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amb. Nduhungirehe said the FDLR is not a party to the Washington agreement but rather one of the issues the agreement requires to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe FDLR should be neutralized as per the Washington Accords. They are the subject of the Washington Accords. They are not a party to sign protocols,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also accused the FDLR of working with the Congolese army and dismissed the recent exchange of communications between the group and the DRC government as a delaying tactic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen communication between the FDLR writing to the DRC government and the DRC government responding to the letter by the FDLR leaders. It\u2019s just comedy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we believe is that this is delaying tactics that cannot fool anyone. And it\u2019s not the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amb. Nduhungirehe cited previous instances in which the DRC announced plans to neutralise the FDLR but, according to him, failed to follow through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalled that in March 2024, then-DRC Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula announced that Kinshasa would present a plan to neutralise the FDLR. Four days later, Amb. Nduhungirehe said Lutundula questioned whether authorities knew where the FDLR fighters were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister also referred to March 2026, when DRC military authorities announced plans to begin operations against the FDLR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen two days later, on 31st of March, they sent helicopters to Walikale full of rifles, close to 700 rifles, to the bases of the FDLR. Ammunition, money, mortars, and other weapons to the same FDLR,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amb. Nduhungirehe said the lack of progress under the Washington agreement is primarily a question of political will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe process itself and the agreement are fine. And they are actually excellent when we read the document. But the problem we have is the political will to implement that agreement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Rwanda had also raised concerns about the role of the United States as mediator, accusing it of becoming increasingly biased in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amb. Nduhungirehe maintained that Rwanda does not need another agreement to resolve the FDLR issue, but rather tangible implementation of the commitments already made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has discussed the implementation of the Washington peace agreement and the need to address the FDLR issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe, has said the Washington peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is sufficient to address the security issues between the two countries, including the threat posed by the FDLR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000121826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000121825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-37","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000121826,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/olivier_ndu-ea86e.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has discussed the implementation of the Washington peace agreement and the need to address the FDLR issue.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":747,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/olivier_ndu-ea86e.jpg","width":1000,"height":747},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/olivier_ndu-ea86e.jpg","width":1000,"height":747},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/olivier_ndu-ea86e.jpg","width":1000,"height":747},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/olivier_ndu-ea86e.jpg","width":1000,"height":747},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/olivier_ndu-ea86e.jpg","width":1000,"height":747}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000121825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000121827,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000121825\/revisions\/2000121827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000121826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000121825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000121825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000121825"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000121825"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000121825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}