After being reelected late last year, President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo selected the nation’s first female prime minister on Monday, keeping a campaign pledge and taking a significant step toward the creation of a new government.
The position will be filled by former planning minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka at a time when violence in the mineral-rich east of the nation, which borders Rwanda, is on the rise. According to the UN, the protracted violence has forced more than 7 million people to flee their homes, making it one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes in history.
In her first address after being appointed, Tuluka pledged to promote peace and development on state television. Even still, given the lengthy negotiations that must take place with the several political groups, it can be months before a new administration is established.
“My thoughts go out to the east and to all corners of the country, which today are facing conflicts with enemies who are sometimes hidden,” she said, referring to the conflict that involves many armed groups including some believed to be backed by Rwanda’s military. “I’m thinking of all these people, and my heart goes out to them.”
More than 120 armed groups have long controlled eastern Congo, killing large numbers of people in the process while vying for control of the region’s gold and other resources. The area is located far from Kinshasa, the capital of the country.
The government of Congo has demanded that U.N. and regional peacekeepers depart after they were accused of not being able to end the violence. Since the start of the troop departure and the arrival of Congolese authorities, the level of violence has only increased.
The senior U.N. envoy to Congo, Bintou Keita, informed the U.N. Security Council last week that the well-known rebel group M23 had gained substantial territory in the east, which was causing the violence and the number of displaced people to rise.
Reelected to a second five-year term in December, Tshisekedi has blamed neighboring Rwanda for providing military backing to the rebels. Although U.N. experts have stated that there is strong evidence of Rwandan military in the Congo, Rwanda disputes this assertion.
Last month, the US pushed Rwanda and the Congo to retreat from the verge of war. In addition, the U.S. State Department denounced M23 and stated that it is an armed force that is “backed” by Rwanda and recommended that Rwanda remove its soldiers and surface-to-air missile systems from eastern Congo.
Last month, the Rwandan Foreign Ministry declared that as Congo conducts a “dramatic military build-up” close to the border, Rwandan forces are safeguarding Rwandan territory.