Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, said he hopes Rwanda will not once again be asked to grant safe passage to mercenaries captured in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as happened in January, since what took place back then did not serve as a lesson, given that the Congolese government has continued to employ such fighters.
Minister Nduhungirehe made these remarks in a post on social media platform X, responding to a message by the DRC’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Jacquemain Shabani Lukoo Bihango, who admitted that the country has continued to rely on mercenaries.
In his post, the Congolese politician wrote about “Black Water,” a name often linked to a group of American mercenary fighters.
Reacting to this, Amb. Nduhungirehe stated: “Only in DRC can a Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Interior surreptitiously brag about the deployment of mercenaries in his country, which is against international law, namely the 1977 OAU/AU Convention and the 1989 UN Convention.”
He went on to recall that when mercenaries previously fought alongside FARDC, they were humiliated and defeated by the M23 rebels in Goma back in January of this year. Afterward, they were allowed safe passage through Rwanda to return to their home countries.
But instead of learning from that experience, he said, the Congolese government has once again resorted to hiring mercenaries.
“Indeed, following the humiliating defeat of Romanian mercenaries in Goma late January 2025, mercenaries who were even given safe passage through Kigali, the Government of DRC has this time hired Colombian mercenaries through ‘Blackwater’, an American company owned by Erik Prince.”
He further pointed out that this practice is contrary to the peace agreements signed in Washington D.C. in the United States, as well as the principles laid out in the Doha Declaration signed between the Government of DRC and AFC/M23.
“This is of course against the letter and spirit of the Washington Peace Agreement and the Doha Declaration of Principles. And I hope that Rwanda will not again be requested to facilitate the repatriation of another bunch of mercenaries...”
Back in late January, when the AFC/M23 coalition captured the city of Goma, among those defeated were European mercenaries hired by the Congolese government to support FARDC. Nearly 300 surrendered and were later repatriated to their home countries through Rwanda.
Some of those mercenaries, while on their way back to Europe, admitted that they did not even know the real reasons behind the war involving AFC/M23. They acknowledged that had they known the truth beforehand, they would never have involved themselves in the conflict.
RADIOTV10
