ALL EYES ON CONGO AS M23 TAKES OVER SAKE TOWN

All eyes on Congo! That's the message from African Stream Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Kaballo (@ahmedkaballo on X) as the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group intensifies its destructive campaign in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), running people out of towns on the way to Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province and home to 2 million people.

In this passionate appeal, Kaballo calls on the world, especially Pan-Africanists, to stand up for the Congolese people who for decades have endured the brunt of the brutal military campaign that Rwanda wages through M23 on behalf of the mineral-hungry imperialists in Western capitals.

Kaballo also appealed to musicians who have in the recent past performed in Rwanda at state-organised concerts, acts that whitewash the country's crimes in the DRC.

On 21 January, M23 took the town of Minova. Less than 48 hours later, the town of Sake, about 20 kilometres from Goma, also fell to the rebels. Goma is now home to more than 1 million people displaced by the M23 insurgency. More than 8 million Congolese are internally and externally displaced as a consequence of a 30-year resource war.

The DRC holds the world's largest reserves of critical minerals such as cobalt, coltan, and many others that are essential for the green transition, all worth approximately $24 trillion. According to UN reports, since taking over the coltan mining region of Rubaya in 2024, M23 has generated an estimated $800,000 per month by imposing a production 'tax.' 

Despite Rwanda's repeated denials about backing M23, a June 2024 report by a group of United Nations experts detailed Kigali's 'de facto control' of M23. Using authenticated drone footage and testimonies of captured fighters, they determined Rwanda's involvement went beyond only material support, with 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers involved in the M23 offensive as of May 2024.

War crimes, such as the forced recruitment of children into different armed groups and sexual violence against women, are prevalent. According to the UN, more than 113,000 cases of s*xual violence were reported in 2023. Cases doubled in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

The nearly three-decade war had already k*lled more than 6 million people by 2010.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/thousands-uprooted-congo-m23-rebels-near-goma-major-advance-2025-01-23/

https://www.voanews.com/a/i-wanted-to-scream-conflict-in-congo-drives-sexual-assault-of-displaced-women-/7325934.html

https://phr.org/our-work/resources/massive-influx-of-cases-sexual-violence-drc/

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/118/80/pdf/n2411880.pdf

https://gsphub.eu/country-info/Democratic%20Republic%20of%20Congo

https://www.nrc.no/news/2024/february/dr-congo-fighting-puts-goma-at-risk-of-lockdown-threatening-humanitarian-support-for-millions

https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war

https://www.iom.int/news/record-high-displacement-drc-nearly-7-million

https://worldrelief.org/blog-displacement-crisis-dr-congo/#:~:text=Millions%20of%20Congolese%20are%20Internally,%2C%20Rwanda%2C%20Zambia%20and%20Tanzania