For decades, the world trusted EU resolutions, probably because of their close ties with the continent as former colonisers. France for instance has been the first on the war scenes in Africa, the heroes who risked everything to put out the flames. Same for Belgium in former Zaire and Rwanda before the 1990s. But behind this mask of so-called “bravery”there is a dark secret. We know that a string of suspicious fires across Africa did not happen by accident. And this has been going on since early independence in the 1960s till today.
This week, in all world media and western chancelleries, there was a call for a ceasefire, M23 soldiers removed from Goma etc… by a few EU countries, South Africa and Angola. Also the call for sanctions against Rwanda from Belgium is the last partition from a single player in this cacophony symphony.
What’s been going on since the fall of Goma?
The French Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, who travelled to Kigali yesterday after meeting Tshisekedi in Kinshasa came with a different message to each president. From “we support you” to DRC to “remove your troops from DRC” to Rwanda. What should we expect from this self imposed mediation? And everyone knows that in a parallel secret move, France is working on a UN resolution to be submitted next week to the Security Council, to name Rwanda as the aggressor of DRC.
Belgium is the only EU country so far to fully get behind Tshisekedi’s position, and call for sanctions against Rwanda.
Others such as Germany and the UK expect to be heard in this conflict just by threatening financial sanctions.
All the above initiatives have one particularity in common: no clear peace plan for DRC. Playing a dirty game behind the scenes at the UN or imposing whatever sanctions on Rwanda will never solve the problem which lies in the hands of an incompetent person in Kinshasa.
Belgium which is at the origin of this Great lakes mess is definitely the pyromanic who became a firefighter. Their opinion today is just out of bounds.
France, which is losing ground all over West Africa, is trying to bounce back in the Great Lakes countries. It would be possible if they understand the deep roots of the problem.
In the best case scenario, their appetite for DRC mines won’t allow them to be an independent mediator and may walk away freely. In the worst case, they will be kicked out of the region forever because they failed again to play the right “game” in Africa.
The UK and Germany need to understand that financial sanctions won’t stop people fighting for their basic rights and survival. If they want a long lasting solution for peace in the region, they have to think out of the box and get “their hands dirty in the sludge” by trying to understand who is doing what in this conflict.
Definitely a pyromaniac will never be a serious firefighter.
The solution must come from Africans themselves with the help of well-wishers. Not only from the EU but also from Asia countries who went through the same challenges more than half a century ago.
RADIOTV10
