{"id":52815,"date":"2025-02-03T08:33:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T08:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/nduhungirehe-rejects-sadc-s-accusations-calls-allegations-unacceptable-lies\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T13:49:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:49:33","slug":"nduhungirehe-rejects-sadc-s-accusations-calls-allegations-unacceptable-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/nduhungirehe-rejects-sadc-s-accusations-calls-allegations-unacceptable-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Nduhungirehe rejects SADC\u2019s accusations, calls allegations “unacceptable lies”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an interview with IGIHE, Minister Nduhungirehe addressed statements from a recent SADC extraordinary summit, where the bloc alleged that RDF troops were operating in DRC\u2019s North Kivu province and attacking Congolese forces, SADC troops under SAMIDRC, and civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were statements in the SADC meeting that are completely unacceptable\u2014blatant lies claiming that RDF is in DRC and responsible for civilian deaths,\u201d Nduhungirehe stated.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that these accusations follow similar unfounded claims by South Africa\u2019s government, particularly from its Minister of Defence. Nduhungirehe linked the SADC allegations to recent tensions between Rwanda and South Africa, which he attributed to certain South African officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe root of this issue is some South African leaders, particularly their Minister of Defence. However, Presidents Kagame and Ramaphosa had two productive discussions last week, agreeing that a ceasefire is needed and that DRC must engage in dialogue with M23.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their talks, President Ramaphosa reportedly acknowledged that South African soldiers killed in a recent clash were attacked by DRC\u2019s army (FARDC), not M23 or RDF.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Nduhungirehe revealed that Ramaphosa requested Rwanda to allow SADC troops access to water, electricity, and food, a request President Kagame agreed to facilitate.<\/p>\n

However, the situation escalated after South Africa\u2019s Defence and Foreign Ministers falsely claimed that Ramaphosa had given Kagame an ultimatum, leading to a response from both Nduhungirehe and Kagame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI responded on X, correcting the false claims that RDF had been warned. The truth is, SAMIDRC troops are not peacekeepers\u2014they are fighting alongside FARDC, FDLR, and mercenaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

{{The bigger picture: Rwanda\u2019s security concerns}}<\/p>\n

Rwanda maintains that SADC troops were deployed to fight alongside the Congolese army, rather than to restore peace, as they claim. Kigali has also accused DRC\u2019s government of collaborating with FDLR, Burundian forces, and European mercenaries in planning attacks against Rwanda.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecent intelligence from Goma confirms that the military buildup in Eastern DRC was not just aimed at fighting M23, but at launching an attack on Rwanda,\u201d the Rwandan government stated.<\/p>\n

While Kigali insists RDF will not attack civilians, it has made it clear that its forces will defend Rwanda\u2019s borders and protect its citizens from any cross-border threats.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, discussions between EAC and SADC leaders have been proposed to de-escalate tensions and find a regional solution. Rwanda has indicated its willingness to engage diplomatically, but remains firm in rejecting what it calls \u201cbaseless accusations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Rwanda\u2019s<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, has strongly dismissed claims made by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), accusing the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) of being present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000081029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-52815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","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":2000081029,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-239.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-239.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-239.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-239.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-239.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-239.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52815","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\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000081029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52815"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=52815"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=52815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}