Suspension of Kinyarwanda-speaking media by Kinshasa regime is an opportunity for the regime to commit more atrocities

The Kinshasa regime’s decision to ban Kinyarwanda-speaking media outlets including newspapers, websites and YouTube channels, is a clear indication that Tshisekedi is determined to persecute Congolese Tutsis, any way he can. The move to muzzle the media will prevent the International Community from knowing what’s really happening in Congo.

For the past months, thousands of Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese citizens were massacred by Congo’s army- FARDC together with allied armed groups FDLR, Mai-Mai, CODECO, APCLS and Nyatura. The inadequacy of accurate news from Eastern Congo has emboldened Tshisekedi and his allies to indulge in committing crimes that are tantamount to a genocide.

The suspension of media outlets that have been reporting the ongoing crimes in the Eastern DRC leaves Kinshasa with a leverage to target more Rwandophones. The state-owned media that the International Community has been relying on for accurate information in the country won’t publish any articles about the happenings in the war-torn nation.

The regime continues deny the ongoing genocide due to limited flow of information from the Eastern part of Congo. As a result, the International Community has been reluctant as far as taking concrete measures against Tshisekedi to stop the massacres. The Congolese revolutionary movement-M23 has been ringing alarm bells but petitions have fallen on deaf ears of the mandated institutions which are charged with protection of civilians.

Tshisekedi should adhere to all regional peace initiates (Luanda, Nairobi and Bujumbura) which directed him to dialogue with M23, respecting the ceasefire to facilitate the return of displaced refugees from Rwanda and other neighboring country.

Tshisekedi has a lot to handle including stopping the killings and answering why he is harboring and arming illegal armed groups including the genocidal outfit- FDLR responsible for the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.

Banning Kinyarwanda-speaking media wouldn’t be the lasting remedy to the conflicts in Congo, Tshisekedi is being misguided.