Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi made damning allegations against Rwanda, accusing the neighboring country of facilitating the looting of minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to western nations in an interview with German media, DW TV.
Tshisekedi asserted that Rwanda has been complicit in aiding the international community’s access to vital minerals from eastern DRC since the mid-1990s.
He claimed that this exploitation has persisted for three decades, tracing its origins back to the influx of refugees fleeing the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s.
“The genocidaires also slipped in. And they entered the Congo with their weapons because the order had been given from somewhere, still within the international community, to let them in with their weapons,” Tshisekedi stated during the interview.
He alleged, “Since then, Rwanda has become the representative of these minerals for the international community, for these multinationals.”
The Congolese leader suggested that Rwanda took advantage of the chaos in the region, using violence to coerce Congolese populations to vacate areas rich in minerals.
He alleged that Rwanda then established itself as a key player in the international trade of these “blood minerals,” collaborating with multinational corporations to profit from their illicit extraction.
“Congo has vast deposits of mineral wealth valued in trillions of dollars,” Tshisekedi emphasized.
These accusations come on the heels of legal action taken by Kinshasa against tech giant Apple, which was accused of using illegally mined minerals from Congolese mines, often laundered through Rwanda, in its products.
These activities are alleged to finance armed groups in the eastern DRC, exacerbating conflict and instability in the region.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has vehemently denied allegations of supporting rebel groups in eastern DRC to plunder its resources. Kagame countered by highlighting Rwanda’s own mineral reserves, including coltan, a key component in electronic devices worldwide.
“We have some minerals – coltan which they talk about – we have a lot of coltan,” Kagame said during a press conference in Kigali. “Those accusing Rwanda of invading Congo to steal minerals are looking for excuses to run away from their problems.”
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