France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Nordic countries like Sweden, Finland, and Denmark are calling for sanctions on Rwanda (the eight smallest country in Africa) for allegedly supporting a liberation movement (M23) that is fighting for either fair treatment in Congo or the return of ancestral land lost to King Leopold during colonialism.
Itβs important to remember that the West never sanctions its puppets. This raises the question: Is Rwanda truly a Western puppet if some of the worst colonizersβFrance and Belgiumβare now advocating for sanctions upon it?
Itβs interesting to note that Rwanda is being threatened with sanctions for supporting a Banyarwandan movement fighting for fair treatment in Congo or the return of ancestral land, while South Africa is also being threatened with sanctions by the U.S. government for seeking to expropriate land violently stolen by Dutch settlers. Need I remind you that Zimbabwe was sanctioned for 24 years for reclaiming land from British settlers? Do you see the pattern here? Itβs clear, sanctions are consistently used to punish efforts to correct colonial injustices.
Secondly, Congo is suspiciously employing NATO mercenaries to protect its mineral wealth and its status as the second-largest country in Africaβa status gained through Belgian colonialism, which dispossessed other Great Lakes countries like Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanganyika of their ancestral lands.
So, how did Congo gain control of Banyarwandan, Burundian, and Tanganyikan tribal lands? Colonialism. This means the current conflict in Congo is, at its core, a war for the return of ancestral land, even though none of the parties involved are willing to honestly acknowledge this. The issue is further complicated by the AUβs 1964 resolution to maintain colonial borders. However, itβs clear that this war is unlikely to end without either breaking these borders or returning ancestral territories lost to colonialism to the ancestral nations that existed before colonialismβa system that left countries like Burundi and Rwanda among the top ten smallest countries in Africa, with little mineral wealth or access to ports.
As Africans, we must decide: Do we want to maintain the gains of colonial dispossession, which would imply that no one can seek land reform from even white colonizers? Or do we redress colonial dispossession, not only from white colonizers but also from the colonial territories that continue to allow some countries to control vast swathes of land looted during colonialism?
We must address this issue, or we will continue to see endless wars and the likely inevitable fragmentation of Congo, similar to what happened with Eritrea and South Sudan.
Iβll admit, I was once one of the greatest critics of Kagame, but common sense should tell us that Congo cannot continue to hold onto vast swathes of ancestral territory of other countries while those countries are left with small, economically unsustainable territories. This is a recipe for perpetual conflict, especially when Congoβs territory is so vast that it cannot adequately defend it, inviting invasions and enabling Western powers to continue looting African resources without benefiting Africa.
The reason France is now backing Congo against Rwanda is simple: itβs easier to loot Congo under an under-resourced Congolese government that cannot defend its massive borders, than to deal with a Rwanda that regains some of its ancestral territory because well trained Rwandan soldiers once successfully encircled French and Belgian troops who were protecting Mobutu when Rwanda and Kabila were marching to remove him.
#KnowThyEnemyAfrica France and Belgium, alongside their Western allies, are Africaβs biggest enemies and the source of disunity, conflict, and suffering on the continent. The next enemy is greedβour own African greed in trying to hold onto colonial benefits.
Written by Rutendo Matinyarare, Chairman of ZASM.
