The Congolese president denounces a “disinformation” campaign after the protests against MONUSCO

July 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, has asked for time to conclude the investigation into the extremely violent protests this week against the United Nations mission in the country, MONUSCO, which he has initially framed within a campaign of “disinformation “.

“There are enemies of the Republic who fuel the specter of MONUSCO’s withdrawal, not for love of Congo but to serve its interests,” the president denounced at a meeting of his Council of Ministers, reported by the Congolese portal La Pruneller and Radio France Internationale.

The cabinet already met earlier on Friday to study the reasons for the wave of demonstrations that began last Monday to demand the departure of the UN mission in the cities of Goma, Butembo and Beni in North Kivu, and Uvira in Kivu. from the south.

The protests began with the attack on a UN building in the first of these cities and ended with a balance of at least 22 dead.

The demonstrations began after the president of the Congolese Senate, Modeste Bahati, recommended in the middle of the month that MONUSCO “pack its bags” after 22 years of a presence in which “it has not been able to impose peace in the east from the country”.

Some ministers and those close to the Head of State do not hesitate to accuse Rwandan President Paul Kagame of the disturbances, who has been locked in a diplomatic conflict with the Congolese authorities for months over his alleged support for the March 23 Movement militia, hostile to the MONUSCO.

Rwanda has denied any relationship with this alleged support and tensions seem to have eased in recent weeks with the signing of an effort to normalize relations between the two countries a few weeks ago.

During the meeting on Friday, the president recalled that in September 2021 a plan for the gradual and staggered withdrawal of MONUSCO was signed for the year 2024, in accordance with the United Nations Security Council, ending a history “not only of failures, but also of many successes,” said the president.