President Paul Kagame has accused Burundi of secretly deploying an estimated 20,000 troops into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), alleging that Bujumbura publicly denied their presence even after Burundian soldiers were captured in combat.
Speaking during a swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed national officials, Kagame said Burundi’s military involvement in DRC has become one of the most destabilizing elements in the region and is being ignored by the international community.
He recounted a conversation with Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye in which the Burundian leader insisted his troops were only in South Kivu addressing internal security concerns.
Kagame said he later received evidence of their presence in North Kivu, near Goma and Rutshuru, but chose to ask Ndayishimiye directly.
“He told me, ‘We are not there.’ I accepted his answer. But two weeks later, many of them were captured in fighting,” Kagame said.
According to Kagame, Burundi eventually deployed tens of thousands of soldiers across key conflict zones in eastern Congo, including Walikale, Uvira, and areas north of Goma.
He said these troops participated in operations marked by heavy civilian casualties, bombardments, tear gas, and drone strikes.
Kagame criticized what he called the international community’s double standard: ignoring Burundi’s large-scale military presence while consistently attributing Congo’s instability to Rwanda.
“So Rwanda must carry the burden for everything happening in Congo?” he asked. “Even when tens of thousands of Burundian troops are fighting there—some of them captured?”
He argued that Rwanda’s primary security concern in DRC remains the FDLR, a militia composed of remnants of the groups responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Yet, he said, Rwanda is repeatedly blamed even as other states escalate the conflict.
Kagame said Rwanda signed the recent Washington peace agreements in good faith, but fighting was already underway before the signing.
He warned that regional contradictions, denials, and political alliances are undermining peace efforts.
“You cannot solve one party’s problems while the other refuses to solve theirs,” he said.
He added that Rwanda wants peace more than any other country in the region, given its history, but will also defend itself if threatened.
“When a person reaches a point where the only choices left may involve death, one may choose how to die,” he said, emphasizing Rwanda’s readiness to confront security threats while pursuing a peaceful path.
Kagame concluded by urging regional actors to take responsibility for their role in Congo’s conflict, saying Rwanda cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of problems created by others.