A combined tide of public anger and anguish is rising in the Democratic Republic of Congo over renewed rebel attacks and victories in the eastern part of the country.
Different sections of the society are pointing two accusing fingers: one at the M23 rebels for failing to implement the US President Donald Trump-brokered peace deal signed in Washington DC on December 4, 2025 by their President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame to restore peace in eastern DRC and firm deals involving their countries and America, while the other finger is in the direction of President Tshisekedi for his ‘apparent’ inability to end the conflict.
Through published stories and select pointed commentaries, the Congolese media reports reviewed by the Media Observer seemed determined to tell the king that he is naked. That the country, particularly in the mineral-rich eastern part, had undergone more than enough suffering in the hands of the M23 rebels they, the United Nations, European powers and the USA have accused Rwanda’s President Kagame of supporting. Kigali has denied the allegations, arguing instead that their troops are in the DRC to protect the common border.
The anger in DRC seems to have been exacerbated when, just a day after signing the peace deal, the M23 rebels walloped the Congolese soldiers and their Burundian helpers, then captured Uvira, South Kivu province’s second largest city on December 5. Uvira served as the provisional administrative centre after the provincial capital Bukavu fell to the M23 rebels in February. Also captured in February was Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. In March, Lunyasenge, Walikale and Nyabiondo also fell in the hands of the M23. For that, the anger, anguish, and a tinge of hopelessness creeping into the public discourse in DRC are palpable. Helpfully, the media are capturing this nationwide anxiety.
For example, on Sunday, December 14, Actualite carried a story on the 15th Plenary Assembly of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC), which includes the bishops conferences of the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda. The DRC head of Catholic Church and Archbishop of Kinshasa Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo put the blame at the feet of political leaders, saying the current diplomatic initiatives were inadequate. “He specifically referred to the occupation of the city of Uvira, which occurred after the ratification of the Washington Accords.” The paper had a picture of a smiling President Tshisekedi standing between clergymen. Cardinal Ambongo blamed the continuing conflict on the obduracy of leaders: “If the appeals of CENCO and ECC had been heeded, especially after the capture of Bunagana, how many lives could have been saved! But, alas, what a waste of time? What a loss of victims?”
On its part, La Prospérité of December 12 published a call by the Sacred Union of the Nation that amounted to support for the government even as it was loaded with desperation. Its secretary general Prof André Mbata called on “all Congolese citizens from all walks of life to mobilise for a patriotic march on Friday, December 19, 2025 to defend the homeland, express their support for the Head of State, and remind the international community of its commitments to peace and the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of Congo … This patriotic march, with banners and placards, will take place in the City of Kinshasa, all the capitals of provinces, including in the occupied territories.”
In the same edition, La Prospérité published a demand by the Collective for the Original (UPDS) party for the “immediate and unconditional resignation of Prime Minister Judith Suminwa’s government, “which is exhausted and lacking in imagination to implement strategies capable of countering the [enemy] advances on the ground.” UPDS asked President Tshisekedi to dismiss most senior officers of the national defence forces (FARDC), “because the inefficiency of our army is the result of its poor-quality chain of command.”
Lesson learnt? The media in the DRC should be commended for braving official constrictions and bluntly highlighting voices of those questioning the government’s abysmal performance in restoring peace to the eastern part of the country.
