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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is once again engulfed in conflict. Fighters from the notorious M23 rebel group have launched a fresh offensive in the country’s east, clashing with the national army and seizing key territories.
In just two weeks, thousands have reportedly been killed, while tensions between DR Congo and its neighbor Rwanda have escalated, with both sides trading accusations over the violence.
But how did Africa’s second-largest country reach this crisis point?
The Rise of M23 and Its Leader, Sultani Makenga
To understand the roots of this conflict, one must examine the life of Sultani Makenga, the shadowy leader of M23. A battle-hardened commander, Makenga has been accused of war crimes, including the use of child soldiers and acts of sexual violence. He is sanctioned by the US and remains one of the most wanted men in the region.
Makenga’s journey through war began on Christmas Day in 1973 when he was born in Masisi, a lush town in eastern DR Congo. Raised in a Tutsi family, he abandoned school at 17 to join the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel movement fighting to end the exclusion of Tutsis from power in Rwanda.
For four years, he fought alongside the RPF in a bloody campaign against the Hutu-led Rwandan government—an insurgency intertwined with the 1994 genocide, in which Hutu extremists massacred 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
“The only education I have is war,” Makenga reflected in a rare 2013 interview.
The RPF eventually seized Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, overthrowing the genocidal regime. Makenga was absorbed into Rwanda’s army, where he gained a reputation as a brilliant strategist. However, his limited education and poor French and English skills stunted his military career.
War in DR Congo: A Never-Ending Battle
As Rwandan forces crossed into DR Congo in the late 1990s, tensions erupted between the Congolese government and the Tutsi community. President Laurent Kabila accused Tutsis of siding with foreign invaders, leading to widespread persecution.
Makenga turned against Kabila, declaring: “He is a politician. I am not. The only language I know is the gun.”
The ensuing war, known as Africa’s World War, dragged in multiple nations and claimed over five million lives—mostly from starvation and disease.
After the conflict officially ended in 2003, Makenga continued fighting. He and other Tutsi rebels were briefly integrated into the Congolese army in a process called “mixage,” but as political alliances shifted, he defected to join the emerging M23 rebellion.
M23 claimed to be fighting for the rights of Tutsis in eastern DR Congo and accused the government of failing to honor a 2009 peace deal. Makenga quickly rose to the top, leading M23 fighters in a brutal 2012 assault that captured Goma, a major eastern city with over a million residents.
DR Congo and the UN accused Rwanda of backing M23, a charge Kigali denied. As pressure mounted, the UN deployed a powerful intervention force, forcing M23 to retreat. Makenga fled to Uganda, where he lived in exile for nearly a decade.
M23 Resurges as Makenga Faces Death Sentence
In 2021, Makenga resurfaced, leading M23 in a fresh rebellion. The group has since overrun vast areas of North Kivu province, with reports suggesting it is receiving support from thousands of Rwandan troops.
Last year, a Congolese court sentenced Makenga to death in absentia. Yet, he remains undeterred, rarely appearing in public but continuing to orchestrate military operations.
“I fight so my children can have a better future in this country,” he once said.
But for millions of Congolese civilians caught in the crossfire, the price of this conflict is devastating.
If captured, Makenga faces execution. But as his past has shown, he is not a man who surrenders easily.
