In the face of the ever worsening security situation in the eastern region of the country, leading opposition party leader Moïse Katumbi has castigated President Félix Tshisekedi and his administration’s lack of commitment to ending the ongoing war instigated by the M23 Rebel Group in North Kivu Province.
Katumbi who has repeatedly expressed strong desire to strengthen and re-equip the nation’s security system, has regretted why the DR Congo Armed Forces (FARDC) lacks the capacity to fight and contain the M23 despite allocation of sufficient resources to reinforce the army and its forces who are unequipped and poorly paid.
The Ensemble Pour la Republique party leader also recalled former President Joseph Kabila’s regime that had managed to end the M23’s dominance with a much lesser budget allocated to the army compared to the ruling Tshisekedi government who failed to protect the its people and territories despite having abundant funding.
“I especially note that under Joseph Kabila, with a budget of less than $500 million, the army managed to put an end to the adventure of the M23. Today, the army’s budget is more than 2 billion dollars and we cannot reconquer the national territory. There is a problem. There are people who are prolonging this war because it suits them, even though our soldiers are. poorly paid,” Katumbi wrote on X.
