Kinshasa, February 26th, 2026 (CPA). – The Minister in charge of Communication of the Democratic Republic of the Congo revealed on Wednesday in Ottawa, Canada, what he described as the falsehoods used by Kigali to justify its invasion of Congolese territory, during a conference, according to a video viewed Thursday. “Rwanda is a republic built on a lie. That is the premise you must always consider when analyzing the conflicts. The narrative promoted by that country is based on pretexts that are either unverified or refer, for example, to alleged hate speech or to the instrumentalization of a community that has never, in any way, requested the Rwandan government to intervene for its protection,” declared Patrick Muyaya, Minister in charge of Communication and Media, during his address at a public conference organized by Congolese professor Yvon Muya in collaboration with the Conflict Research Centre of Saint Paul University in Ottawa.
“The real stakes behind the Rwandan aggression are territorial expansion, control and looting of resources, and economic survival,” he insisted. Addressing the issue of economic survival, the Congolese government spokesperson stated that what appears as Rwanda’s prosperity has been built on the plundering of resources from the DRC. He further indicated that Kigali decided to invade Congo after the Congolese government refused to allow the looting of its mineral wealth.
“We have undertaken three to four key actions with the President (Félix Tshisekedi) that lie at the heart of this war. First, we sought to ensure control over gold. Beyond coltan and tungsten, the main resource benefiting Rwanda’s economy from the DRC is gold. Forty percent of Rwanda’s budget comes from profits derived from the illicit exploitation of gold in the DRC. The figures are verifiable—amounting to USD 1.6 billion according to 2024 statistics. I am not even adding the most recent data showing increased coltan exports by Rwanda,” the spokesperson revealed. For Minister Muyaya, references to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), hate speech, and other justifications put forward by Rwanda are merely pretexts aimed at maintaining control over Congolese resources. “Today, we have developed a strategy against it on five fronts—military, diplomatic, economic and even communication—to put an end to the aggression,” he stated.
Mr. Muyaya also referred to legal action initiated by the Congolese government against Apple Inc., a major global manufacturer of phones and laptops. “We believe Apple may not be the only company concerned (…) You cannot be a major manufacturer of phones and computers without components originating from illicit trafficking networks, considering that we hold 20 percent of the world’s reserves. In addition to coltan, we also possess 70 percent of the world’s cobalt reserves,” the Minister said. “The DRC is therefore a country that has always been at the heart of humanity’s major resolutions—a country destined for greatness,” he concluded. The conference was held under the theme: “Thirty Years of Conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: Regional Dynamics, Humanitarian Challenges and Prospects for Peace,” at the Saint Paul University amphitheater in Ottawa, in the presence of Joska Kabongo, DRC Ambassador to Canada, members of the Congolese diaspora and several invited guests.