Beni, July 8th, 2025 (CPA).– No joint military operation between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the Ugandan Army is planned against the ‘Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland’ (VDP/Wazalendo) in North Kivu, in the east of the country, the Military Governor said during a workshop on Monday in Beni.
‘The FARDC and the Ugandan Army have never prepared or carried out any operation against the VDP. And if such an operation existed, would I, as provincial governor and commander of operations, not be informed?’ said Major General Somo Kakule Evariste, Military Governor. The military governor of the martyred province of North Kivu, which is partially occupied by the rebel group ‘AFC-M23’ supported by the Rwandan army, made a clarification during this workshop to report on the 12th Governors’ Conference concerning joint operations carried out by the Armed Forces of the DRC and the Ugandan army against local armed groups known as « Mai-Mai « . ‘This communication was not aimed at the groups in North Kivu. It concerned the groups in Ituri, notably Codeco and Zaïre, identified as perpetrators of numerous abuses against civilians. Curiously, it was the armed groups in North Kivu that began to stir,’ the military governor explained. The FARDC commander of military operations in North Kivu took this opportunity to appeal to everyone, including armed groups, to act wisely.
« If they are truly Congolese and wish to change and abandon this path of treason, they must respond to the FARDC’s repeated calls and join the VDP synergy. It is this synergy that makes it possible to clearly identify the groups and the weapons they use (…) By joining the Synergy, the three programmes recognized by the Republic will be available to support them. These include the PDDRC-S, the Rad and the National Program to Combat the Circulation of Weapons and Small Arms, » he reassured. This statement followed a post on social media platform X by the Chief of Staff of the Ugandan Army, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, referring to a possible hunt for all ‘Wazalendo’ by the FARDC and UPDF.