This illustration by Carlos Latuff vividly captures the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda and Uganda have played significant roles in destabilising the vast, mineral-rich central African country for the past 30 years – through invasions and funding militia groups to fight against DRC troops and Kinshasa-backed militia.
In 2023, a UN report concluded that Rwanda aids and supports the M23 rebel group, supplying cash and weapons. Such weaponry has been used against civilians – including, allegedly, the horrific bombing of two refugee camps near Goma on May 3rd, which k*lled at least 12. The beneficiaries of this three-decade conflict have been Western powers – chiefly, the US and the UK, both of which fund Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni. Former US President Bill Clinton hailed Kagame and Museveni as examples of a “new breed of leaders” when describing Washington’s allies in Africa. MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping force in DR Congo, is exiting after a 25-year presence, and has been accused of doing little to keep the peace in the volatile region. As foreign powers profit from extracting DRC’s vast mineral wealth, it is the Congolese people who bear the horrific brunt of the country’s long-running conflict.