The reaction follows Washington’s March 2, 2026 announcement of sanctions against the RDF and some of its officials. In Kinshasa, senior officials welcomed the move, describing it as a long-awaited step toward accountability. Among them, DRC Foreign Affairs Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said the decision demonstrated that “a word given cannot be perpetually broken, and the brazen contempt for human lives cannot endure.”
In a post published on her X page, Makolo said no one could disagree with the principle expressed in that statement, but insisted it must be viewed in light of what she called the broader reality.
“ ‘A word given cannot be perpetually broken, and the brazen contempt for human lives cannot endure.’ No one can argue with this, but above the noise, this is the reality: The Government of the DRC remains the backer of FDLR, which is an existential threat to Rwanda,” she wrote.
Makolo added that “no matter how many lies and resources are invested into propaganda to distract from DRC state sponsorship of the FDLR, this problem is not going away.”
She argued that one-sided sanctions risk emboldening Kinshasa’s reliance on military action rather than dialogue.
“One-sided sanctions unfortunately only serve to embolden the Government of the DRC in its insistence on a military solution. The result is what we see now: prolongation of the conflict, escalation of violence, lost opportunities and importantly, lost lives,” she stated.
The spokesperson further linked the crisis to what she described as internal political challenges within the DRC, including discrimination and extremist rhetoric.
“Also not going away is the internal situation in the DRC: the AFC/M23 is fighting persecution based on the policies of the Government of DRC that support proponents of genocide ideology,” she wrote, citing what she called “recent inflammatory rhetoric” by FARDC General Sylvain Ekenge on national television as an example.
According to Makolo, such rhetoric fuels extremist ethnic violence that threatens the broader Great Lakes region.
“These facts cannot be distorted or overlooked in the search for a solution to the crisis,” she emphasized.
Makolo pointed to agreements reached over the past year, including the Washington Accords signed in 2025, as the framework for resolving the conflict. Under those arrangements, the DRC committed to dismantling the FDLR while Rwanda agreed to lift defensive measures once security concerns were addressed.
“The way forward to lasting peace and progress is already laid out in agreements reached in the past year, including the comprehensive Washington Accords. But the DRC appears more interested in continued war than in implementing its obligations in the peace processes,” Makolo wrote.
As diplomatic tensions persist, Rwanda maintains that sanctions alone will not resolve the crisis in eastern Congo and continues to call for full implementation of existing peace agreements as the path toward sustainable regional stability.