Kinshasa, DRC – February 26, 2025
Mobutu Nzanga Ngbangawe, son of the late Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, has issued a scathing indictment of Rwanda, accusing its government of nearly three decades of aggression that has plunged the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into chaos. In a statement posted on X, Nzanga Mobutu alleges that Rwanda’s Tutsi-led regime, alongside allies in Uganda and Burundi, has systematically destabilized Congo since 1996, exploiting its vast natural resources and leaving a trail of bloodshed that has claimed over six million lives.
Speaking as a voice for Congolese sovereignty, Nzanga Mobutu traces the conflict back to the 1996 invasion of then-Zaire, when Rwanda and its partners crossed the border under what he calls a “false pretext” of pursuing genocidaires from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. “Congo had no hand in Rwanda’s internal strife,” he asserts. “This was about territorial ambition and greed.” The invasion, he claims, saw thousands of refugees massacred between 1996 and 1997, marking the beginning of a war that persists to this day—one of the deadliest in modern history.
Nzanga Mobutu points to a pattern of Rwandan interference, accusing the regime of propping up a series of proxy militias to maintain control over eastern Congo. From the AFDL in the late 1990s to the RCD, CNDP, and now the M23 group, he argues that these forces have been tools of Rwanda’s resource plunder and a means to perpetuate instability. “These are not organic rebellions,” he writes. “They are Rwanda’s puppets, violating our sovereignty and bleeding our nation dry.”
Drawing on historical grievances, Nzanga Mobutu situates Rwanda’s actions within a broader legacy of regional turmoil. He references the 1972 genocide of Hutus in Burundi under Michel Micombero’s Tutsi-led government and the 1994 assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira—events he says ignited cycles of ethnic violence that continue to destabilize Central Africa. “Rwanda’s leaders have long undermined peace, from the Arusha Accords to the present, fearing any system that threatens their grip on power,” he claims.
Nzanga Mobutu also highlights specific episodes, such as the 2000 Battle of Kisangani, where Rwandan and Ugandan forces clashed over 500 kilometers from their borders, devastating the Congolese city in a fight for mineral wealth. “This was not about security,” he insists. “It was about domination and profit.” He accuses Rwanda of using the presence of the Hutu-led FDLR militia as a convenient excuse to justify its military presence while extracting Congo’s resources with impunity.
For years, Nzanga Mobutu says, Rwanda has deceived the international community, cloaking its actions in a narrative of stability and progress. “The mask has fallen,” he declares, praising the Trump administration for confronting this reality and urging Western allies to demand accountability. “The DRC will no longer be a playground for foreign agendas. Our people deserve peace, security, and the right to shape our destiny.”
Calling on regional partners and global advocates for justice, Nzanga Mobutu’s message is clear: those fueling war in Congo must face consequences. For the son of a leader once vilified for his own rule, this stand represents a bid to reclaim a narrative of Congolese resilience—and a personal stake in ending the suffering that has defined his homeland for decades.