The Congolese authorities claimed on Tuesday 27 December to have dismantled a network of Rwandan spies and their Congolese accomplices who had infiltrated Kinshasa. The identities of those involved were revealed by Deputy Interior Minister Jean-Claude Molipe Mandongo, live on national television.
According to the security services, the dismantled spy network is made of four people. There are two Rwandan spies, one of whom is a soldier of the Rwandan Defense Force (RDF). These two individuals were acting under the cover of a development NGO called AHDO (African Health Development Organization). The other two elements of the network are Congolese accomplices.
According to army spokesman Sylvain Ekenge, “These spies had not only infiltrated some FARDC officers but also high-profile political figures as well as economic operators and members of civil society. However, “the encrypted phone of the Rwandan soldier, after exploitation by investigators, revealed that he had access to various strategic sites in the capital and this, in complicity with some general and senior officers of the FARDC,” he added.
“The acquisition by these spies of a large amount of land around the N’djili international airport and the Kibomango military base suggests the preparation of a Machiavellian plan similar to that behind the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart,” said Jean-Claude Molipe Mandongo, deputy minister of the interior, security, decentralisation and customary affairs.
According to statements by the authorities, ‘Other spies are being sought, especially as the above-mentioned NGO had opened branches in the provinces of Kwango, Kwilu, Kasai, North Kivu and South Kivu. They will eventually be caught. Investigations are continuing on the basis of leads and evidence provided by those apprehended. The security services reassure the population that they are working to dismantle this network of criminals and to put all accomplices, both civilian and military, out of action.
In recent months, the DRC has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels who have re-emerged since 2021 and taken over large areas of North Kivu province. But Rwanda has always denied these accusations. On 10 December, the Congolese authorities published a book entitled the White Paper. The document marks the various acts of violations perpetrated by Rwanda in the DRC and the irrefutable evidence of its support for the 23 March Movement called M23. The aim is to bring them before international courts. The UN finally confirmed Kinshasa’s allegations of Rwanda’s support for the rebels, calling on Paul Kagame to stop the intrusion immediately. For the time being, Rwanda has not yet reacted to the alleged spy network dismantled in Kinshasa.
