Peace Agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda: Is this for Real?

Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo

We have been told to applaud the recent “peace” agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. It can be accessed on the US Department of State website both in English and French

Last week, on

Flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo

June 27, 2025, the Foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Olivier Nduhungirehe, respectively, in the presence of United States President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House signed a peace agreement. Some of the key points of this peace agreement are : 1) Territorial integrity and prohibition of hostilities: both nations pledge to respect the territorial integrity of the other and its sovereignty – not sure why both, since the Rwanda of Paul Kagame has always been the aggressor and the one not respecting and violating the DRC territory and people. 2) Disengagement, disarmament, and integration of non-state armed groups – End state support to armed groups, thus committing both governments to halt military support for non-state armed groups – again, not sure why both when we all know that Rwanda is the culprit. Does that mean that the DRC government will now be working against its patriotic forces who have been trying to fight the Rwandan-backed groups in the East? 3) Joint security coordination mechanism.  4) Refugees, internally displaced persons, and humanitarian considerations – return of refugees and displaced populations – how? when the culprits have not even been openly named? 5) MONUSCO and other multilateral support – how can someone trust this organization of the United Nations which has produced zero results (more like negative results) in over 30 years in eastern DRC? and which has instead been an accomplice to the worst atrocities in Congo? 6) Regional economic integration framework – … this framework… shall ensure… both parties derive greater prosperity… the parties shall launch and/or expand cooperation on … national park management; hydropower development; derisking of mineral supply chains; joint management of resources in Lake Kivu; and transparent, formalized end-to-end mineral value chains (from mine to processed metal) that link both countries, in partnership, as appropriate with the US government and US investors – What an abomination! Why is this not signed with Burundi, Tanzania, or Zambia too? Don’t they share borders with the DRC? So Congo needs to share its resources with the resource-less Rwanda, and together they will manage Congo’s resources! Unbelievable! – the US have always been in the great lakes region funding Rwanda against the DRC under Clinton and subsequent governments; what changes now? 7) Implementation and dispute resolution – any dispute arising for the implementation of this agreement shall be resolved amicably between the parties with the facilitation of the Joint Oversight Committee upon request of either party – what the heck is JOC: African Union facilitator, Qatar, and the United States.

Flag of Rwanda

As pointed out before in The Declaration of Principles between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, how can a peace agreement be signed which does not clearly state that Rwanda is the aggressor of the DRC? which does not even mention its guilt or its actions against the DRC? How can there be a peace agreement, if Rwanda does not admit to its crimes against the Congolese people? Why is there no mention of the close to 10 million dead Congolese from this 30-year-old conflict? What sort of a peace is that if there is no justice? What is this? No punishment? No accountability? No responsibility? Only for Africa could they sign such a piece of toilet paper! And we are supposed to applaud? Not too long ago, we have heard of a 100-year-old former guard at a Nazi concentration camp accused of “aiding and abetting” the murder of over 3,300 prisoners during world war II who is going to face a German court. When it comes to Congo, not even a trial for Paul Kagame, or any of his cronies! Not even a sorry?

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mineral map (Source: Atlas du continent africain, Jeune Afrique et editions Jaguar, 2000)

In point 6, all resources of Congo now belong to the entire region: Rwanda with no resources, and Congo with the resources. Thus, DRC needs to keep feeding Rwanda (and Uganda – the other co-aggressor), and all the controllers, until they are filled to the brim! What is Rwanda doing in the management of Congolese national parks? or the hydropower? why should Rwanda be involved in the management of the mines and exploitation of minerals (gold, diamond, cobalt, uranium, etc) in the DRC? Why? What gives them the right? Can you imagine, now, the resources of Congo should mutually benefit its agressor Rwanda (and Uganda) equitably so that the DRC will have peace! What sort of garbage is this? Rwanda benefits 100%, while DRC keeps feeding the neighbor! In essence, the theft and expropriation of the DRC resources has now been fully legalized. Does this mean that for each exploration in Congo, Rwanda needs to be consulted? Corruption is even mentioned, what is Rwanda doing in the fight against corruption in Congo’s resources?

DRC cobalt

Thus, in this “peace” agreement, Rwanda got everything, while Congo got nothing … not even peace! How can one get peace, if the culprit has not even been cited openly? or punished? no justice? Even Kagame after the Rwandan genocide had the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha Tanzania, and the gacaca courts (community-based justice)… the DRC got nothing, not even a whisper about the crimes committed against its populations for 30 years! Moreover, its resources are now “regional” resources! Not sure if this should be called a peace agreement! Honestly, Africans should never dream of peace without fighting… it can never work! The predator will never let go until it is beaten to the ground!