{"id":53258,"date":"2025-03-05T16:48:37","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/gen-rtd-kabarebe-exposes-tshisekedi-s-failed-plan-to-raise-drc-flag-in-kigali\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T16:43:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T16:43:57","slug":"gen-rtd-kabarebe-exposes-tshisekedi-s-failed-plan-to-raise-drc-flag-in-kigali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/gen-rtd-kabarebe-exposes-tshisekedi-s-failed-plan-to-raise-drc-flag-in-kigali\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe exposes Tshisekedi\u2019s failed plan to raise DRC flag in Kigali"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking at a consultative meeting with members of Rwanda\u2019s Parliament on March 5, 2025, Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe discussed the spread of genocidal ideology in the region, its consequences, and strategies to counter it. <\/p>\n

He disclosed that Tshisekedi became convinced of his ability to take over Rwanda when he aligned himself with the FDLR terrorist group in the fight against the M23 rebels.<\/p>\n

According to Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe, Tshisekedi\u2019s hostility toward M23 intensified after the group was excluded from peace talks in Nairobi in April 2022. He vowed to eliminate them and “send them back to Rwanda” simply because many of their fighters spoke Kinyarwanda.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of solely targeting M23, Tshisekedi turned his aggression toward Rwanda. He openly declared that he would fire at M23 fighters and drive them into Rwanda just because they spoke Kinyarwanda and shared aspects of Rwandan culture,\u201d Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe explained.<\/p>\n

He further revealed that Tshisekedi, along with FDLR leaders and his military generals, devised a plan to invade Rwanda after defeating M23 in North Kivu. The ultimate goal was to overthrow the Rwandan government, and Tshisekedi envisioned himself raising the DRC flag in Kigali.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Tshisekedi launched his offensive against M23, he relied on FDLR forces. The FDLR assured him they would crush M23, pursue them into Rwanda, and that by the time the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting [CHOGM] took place in Kigali on June 20, 2022, he would already be in the Rwandan capital, having hoisted the DRC flag. His generals and the FDLR fed him these illusions, and he believed them,\u201d Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe stated.<\/p>\n

The CHOGM summit, which brings together leaders from English-speaking nations, was held in Kigali from June 20 to 25, 2022. This event occurred shortly after FDLR and DRC military forces shelled Rwanda\u2019s Musanze District in May and June of that year.<\/p>\n

Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe attributed Tshisekedi\u2019s misguided belief in an easy victory to his lack of military experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a new president, a civilian with no understanding of warfare. The FDLR convinced him he would win, and he fell for it. He truly believed he could defeat Rwanda and intensified his efforts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite calls from East African Community (EAC) heads of state urging him to halt attacks on Rwanda, Tshisekedi refused. Instead, he bolstered his military capabilities, preparing for direct confrontation with Rwanda.<\/p>\n

As part of this strategy, he collaborated with various militias under the Wazalendo alliance, a coalition known for its anti-Rwandan and anti-Tutsi ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wazalendo militias, especially the Nyatura faction, were created by the FDLR, which embedded its commanders within their ranks to strengthen their influence. Essentially, these so-called Congolese \u2018patriotic\u2019 forces are an extension of the FDLR,\u201d Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe explained.<\/p>\n

On January 27, 2025, when M23 captured the city of Goma, the DRC army, FDLR, and Wazalendo forces launched an attack on Rwanda\u2019s Rubavu District, killing 16 civilians. Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe revealed that this assault had been planned in advance.<\/p>\n

Following M23\u2019s takeover of Goma, Rwanda\u2019s government confirmed intelligence reports indicating that DRC forces, in collaboration with the FDLR, had planned a major offensive against Rwanda. Heavy DRC artillery had been positioned facing Rwanda, ready for an attack.<\/p>\n

However, Gen (Rtd) Kabarebe emphasized that Tshisekedi\u2019s plan to invade Rwanda ultimately failed. He credited Rwanda\u2019s robust defense strategies, reinforced after previous attacks on Musanze, for successfully repelling threats, including the attempted invasion on January 27.<\/p>\n

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

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in charge of Regional Cooperation, Gen (Rtd) James Kabarebe, has revealed that President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) once believed he could invade Rwanda and raise the DRC flag in Kigali.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000083044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","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":2000083044,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/james-12-915ce.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/james-12-915ce.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/james-12-915ce.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/james-12-915ce.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/james-12-915ce.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/james-12-915ce.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53258","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\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000083044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53258"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53258"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}