GOMA, CONGO — Kenyan President William Ruto said Monday that the presidents of Rwanda and Congo have agreed to attend a meeting Wednesday to discuss developments in eastern Congo, where M23 rebels say they have seized control of Goma on the Congo-Rwandan border.
“We are all in agreement that now more than ever it is an existential issue, not just for the people of eastern DRC, but for this region,” Ruto said during a press briefing, referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo, also called Congo. “The situation in eastern DRC now demands our collective focus.”
The apparent takeover of Goma, a city of about 2 million, has prompted fears of further violence and mass displacement. A journalist in Goma told VOA by telephone that fighting was now going on around the city’s airport, and that it appeared to be escalating. While he was speaking, gunfire could be heard in the background, and he cut off the call to seek shelter.
For years, Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels — an accusation Kigali denies. The Congo government said Monday that Rwandan government troops are in Goma. There was no immediate response from officials in Kigali.
The Congolese government “continues to work to avoid carnage and loss of human life,” said government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya in a Monday post on X. Muyaya said that the government is urging Goma residents to stay indoors and refrain from looting.
M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka told VOA that the rebel group took control of the city over the weekend after intense clashes with Congo government forces.
The violence around the city has sparked widespread panic among its residents and displaced people, many of whom had already fled violence in surrounding areas.
Mugunga, one of the largest camps for displaced people near Goma, is experiencing a flurry of new arrivals.
“We fled Sake last year because of fighting, and now we are running again,” said one woman who declined to be named for security reasons. “We have no food, no shelter, and no idea where we’ll end up. This is no life.”
As the rebels fight to take full control of Goma, the situation remains fluid in nearby Sake, a key town west of the city in North Kivu province.
Reports indicate that fierce fighting continues between M23 and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, known by its French acronym FARDC.
On Friday, General Sylvain Ekenge, a Congo military spokesperson, announced the death of North Kivu Governor Major General Peter Cirimwami. The spokesperson said on state media that the governor was “wounded and evacuated to Kinshasa, where all efforts were made to take him abroad for appropriate care. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his wounds.”
Humanitarian needs deepen
The conflict has exacerbated the region’s already dire humanitarian situation. The United Nations reports that over 5.5 million people are displaced in Congo, many of them in North Kivu.
People like Lomoo Biondo Manuel, an internally displaced person, want the violence to stop. We are facing “a lot of hardships,” Manuel told VOA’s Swahili Service. “We want to go back to our original homes. We want peace.”
In Mugunga camp, residents have been forced to seek shelter in schools, abandoned buildings, and even open fields. One displaced woman pleaded for immediate intervention, saying, “We call on the government to end this war so we can return to our homes.”
The M23’s resurgence has drawn renewed scrutiny of regional actors. A recent United Nations report said that Rwanda has played a direct role in M23’s operations, a charge that Rwandan officials have dismissed as baseless.
This story originated in VOA’s Africa Division.
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