His soldiers are not sufficiently paid below. His ranks are full of fractions that last their own interests. And they say that he was kept in a consecutive president for fear of a coup.
The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo seemed too weak and dysfunctional to stop the militia that has passed through the eastern part of the country in recent weeks. The militia, named M23, seized two capital cities, two strategic airports and large shares of the Congolian territory.
Félix Tshisecedi, president, tried to prepare for this moment, strengthening his army to wander thousands of fighters in the east. But this answer collapsed despite the progress of the M23, leaving Mr. Tshiseacedi more isolated, his domestic support of evaporation, peace negotiations with regional forces stopped and strong international support.
M23 supports Rwanda, a much smaller neighbor of Kong whose troops were trained, armed and built with rebels, according to the United Nations. Rwanda admitted that her troops were in Congo, but denied the control of the M23.
“This conflict has two sides,” said Fred Bauma, executive director AbuteliCongolian research institute. “One is support in the M23 of Ruandan. And the other is the internal weakness of the Congolian government.”
IN A recent interview with the New York TimesPresident Congo said the problem of the army was that he was infiltrated by the party and blamed his predecessor that he had not solved the problem.
“My predecessor spent 18 years in power without the renovation of the army,” said Mr. Tshisecedi. “When we started to overhaul it and renew it in 2022, Rwanda immediately attacked us, as if they wanted to prevent reforms.”
Over the past month, these attacks have accelerated, and the Congo’s army and its allies – involving European mercenaries and armed groups known as Wazalendo, or Patriots – have lost the battle after the battle.
M23 pushes into a new territory, surrounds the city of Lidira, and marching in the north and south. In Bukavu, the Congoon soldiers withdrew in long columns before the M23 even attacked the city.
After the battle for the city of Gom, the M23 fighters loaded hundreds of captured troupes into trucks and drove them from the city to retraining. Officers also have handed over He was massively joined by M23, according to the spokesman of the rebels. Congoon soldiers and their allies Wazalendo often turned to each other, fighting for stocks and access to locations where they were charged with bribery.
Weak giant
On paper, the Congo seems to be well placed to cope with threats that come from their many smaller neighbors. Experts estimate that there are between 100,000 and 200,000 soldiers, far more than Rwanda or M23.
But the Congolian army has long been known for its weakness and corruption.
Unmotivated soldiers increase their revenues of extracting civilians, often on hundreds of conges obstaclesThe most unusual of which can be withdrawn $ 900 a day, many times a monthly salary of soldiers.
Commanders collect payments from their subordinates or additional wages, for spiritual workers who exist only on paper-surrounded by paper surrounded by a vaccination and abuse system. The hulls are lacking in transport trucks, and instead they often command motorcycle taxis to get from deployment to deployment.
“The army really works like an armed group,” said Peer Schouten, a researcher of peace and violence at the Danish Institute for International Studies, with an emphasis on Central Africa.
Knowing that, Mr. Tshisekedi tried to strengthen the army. 2023. More than doubled the military budget from $ 371 million to $ 761 million – a dwarf is $ 171 million in Rwanda, although both countries are equalized with just over 1 percent of their gross domestic product.
Some of the money spent for a better weapon. Congo recently bought Attacks unmanned aircraft from China as well as supervision and attack aircraft from the South African defense company. He also spent $ 200 million on a regional force that retreated to South African troops.
But “the increasing ability is not something that can happen overnight,” said Nan Tian, a researcher of the Institute for Peace Research in Stockholm.
The conflict, on the other hand, is the M23, a militia with decades of experience in Eastern Congo, and supported as many as 4,000 well -armed, well -trained troops of Rwanda, which operated on the Congolian territory.
Rwanda is firmly controlled by his President Paul Kagama, who took power after the 1994 genocide. He consolidated his power and swallowed his disagreements; His government says that in the last two presidential elections he won 98 and 99 percent of the vote.
The roots of the fragility of the congreg
Congo is the largest nation in Subsaharian Africa. A large part of this is removed and unrelated, and the condition is either absent or predatory. Over 100 armed groups are active, and the perpetrators are abused with almost complete impunity.
The roots of the fragility of the Conges run deep. There is a weak institution and very little development after the decades of Belgian colonialism. Then, after independence, the United States and Belgium supported Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, and the United States later helped installing the Mobut of Sese Seka, a Kleptocrat who ruled almost three decades. The civil war overthrew the mobut in 1997; His successor Laurent Kabila was killed four years later.
Mr. Tshiseekedi never enjoyed much popularity among his people. He took over the leadership of his party after the death of his father, one of the most important opposition politicians in Congo, and took power in 2018, proclaimed the winner of the election that the dial data suggests that almost safely lost.
And although he retained power in the 2023 election, voter response It was the lowest the country saw from independence. The Catholic Church, which has a long history of monitoring the election of Congo, has accused the National Election Commission for chairmanship of the “Election Disaster”.
Since then, Mr. Tshiseekedi has hinted that he wants to change the Constitution, which has used a tactic that several African leaders have used to reset the limit of the term and remain in power.
But these plans are filled with considerable opposition. Experts say his position is uncertain and military failures in the East are even more weak. In Kinshasi, the capital, people are concerned about his ability to control their security forces and are afraid of a possible coup.
Mr. Tshiseekedi said he would turn to the opposition and form a government of unity.
Stopped peace negotiations
Several diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis in Eastern Congo has reached the downtime, and Mr. Tshiseacedi has twice refused to attend peace negotiations.
The leaders of the Congole Church are trying to organize the latest circle of negotiations, and they met with Mr. Kagame and several figures of the Congole opposition. They want Mr. Tshiseekedi to talk to M23, which Mr. Kagama insists.
So far, Mr. Tshiseekeddi has refused to negotiate directly with M23. But as he stops, his position seems to be weaker.
The conflict caused the death of more than 7,000 citizens of Congo since January, according to the United Nations. About 2,500 were buried without identification, said the prime minister of the United Nations last week.
Malawi, who participated in the South African forces that fought against the M23, ordered the troops to withdraw after the three were killed in January.
Other regional players take advantage of the vulnerability of Congo and lack of foreign forces to improve their own interests. Uganda recently threatened to attack the Congolian town of Bunia if they did not hand over the weapon “all forces”. Uganda also supported the M23, according to the UN experts.
Without a strong army, Mr. Tshiseeceda continued to appeal to the world forces, hoping to press Rwand to retreat. When M23 attacked in 2012, the international conviction led to Rwanda withdrawn support for the armed group, and eventually defeated. This time there was widespread criticism, but no sign that Rwanda intended to give up.
Ruth Maclean reported from Dakar, Senegal and Guerch ndebo From Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
