Congolese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwenge has strongly criticized the appointment of General Nduru Chalingoza, a former rebel leader, as the new head of Military operations in North Kivu Province.
Republican President Fèlix Tshisekedi appointed General Chalingoza to replace General Constant Ndimi following reshuffles made and a new commission of inquiry set up in the aftermath of the massacre in Goma where a number of defenseless civilians were killed.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Dr. Mukwenge bemoaned President Tshisekedi’s continued practice of appointing former rebel leaders and enemies of the DR Congo into key departments of government.
“We were stunned to learn of the appointment of General Nduru Chaligonza to head up military operations in North Kivu, replacing the Military Governor of North Kivu, General Constant Ndimi, who was recalled to Kinshasa for consultations following the dispatch of the Interministerial Commission sent to Goma on the instructions of the President of the Republic to shed light on the large-scale massacre committed against civilians on August 30 by elements of the Republican Guard, and to establish who was responsible for this tragedy” Dr. Mukwenge’s statement reads.
Despite having previously publicly urged parliament to pass laws that will remove former rebel leaders from government, Dr. Mukwenge wonders why President Tshisekedi continues to appoint former perpetrators of crime into key positions of his government.
“On August 2, 2023, the day commemorating the Congolese genocide, the President “encouraged Parliament to pass laws to remove the perpetrators of crimes from positions of responsibility,” giving hope to the Congolese population in general, and to the victims and communities affected by decades of armed conflict in particular, that the immoral policy of promoting former rebel leaders would come to an end. In the same vein, less than a year ago, shortly after the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022, President Tshisekedi spoke out about the weakness of the Congolese army in an interview with RFI and France 24, saying: “In this army there is bravery, there are elements who deserve the nation’s homage and who are more numerous than the black sheep…We need to purge, separate the wheat from the chaff, and so on. (…) We need to find out which elements can continue their career in the company, and who we need to get rid of in order to create a new dynamic.”
General Chalingoza is a former ally of Thomas Lubanga and Bosco Ntaganda, both of whom are currently being trialed in the International Criminal Court for committing numerous crimes in the DR Congo.
General Chalingoza is the latest former rebel leader to be handed a key position in government by President Tshisekedi after Jean-Pierre Bemba and Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi who were earlier this year in March appointed as Defence Minister and Minister in charge of Regional Cooperation respectively.
