RDC’s escalation and hate speech targeting Rwandans

The Rwandan Government Spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, strongly condemned recent remarks made by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba. During a visit to Munzenze Prison, Mutamba incited inmates to target Tutsi communities and Rwanda, an act Makolo labeled as extreme provocation.

Over recent months, the DRC government has intensified hate-filled rhetoric against Tutsi populations in the country’s eastern regions and the Rwandan leadership, branding them as enemies. This toxic propaganda has led to repeated violence and killings of Tutsi civilians in North and South Kivu.

While the DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, Kigali has consistently denied these allegations, presenting concrete evidence to refute them.

During his visit to Munzenze Prison, located near the Rwandan border in Goma, Mutamba delivered inflammatory remarks, calling Tutsi individuals “enemies of the Congolese people” and urging prisoners to expose anyone suspected of having ties to Rwanda. He warned that those identified would be transferred to Angenga Military Prison or face execution.

Makolo criticized these statements, highlighting their disturbing parallels with the hate speech propagated in Rwanda before and during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

This hostility is deeply rooted in historical grievances, where colonial powers relocated communities to the Congo for labor or annexed Rwandan territories to the DRC following the Berlin Conference in 1884. Such rhetoric now serves to further stoke division and violence, threatening regional stability.