M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to advance and seize Congolese territory in the eastern province of North Kivu. Ongoing fighting on the western front, which began about a month ago, has led to a massive displacement of people with a new camp filling up around the city Goma. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes since late 2021. Fred Bauma, a senior fellow at the NYU Center on International Cooperation, joined Voice of America Africa 54 host Esther Githui-Ewart from Kinshasa with an update on the current situation.
“There is a gap between how people understand the force and probably the way the force understands its own mission. They have been trying to negotiate the withdrawal of M23 and they have not been very successful..I think it’s fair to say that nothing came out of that meeting [between President Kigali and President Tshisekedi on February 4].”