Museveni accuses UN of ‘conserving’ terrorism

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has accused the United Nations of “conserving” terrorism in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and breeding chaos in multiple countries in the Sahel region. 

“Part of the terrorism in Africa is either created or conserved by some of the actors that try to be global policemen. The chaos in Libya and the surrounding countries of the Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, etc.) was caused by some of these actors. 

“The terrorism conservation project in eastern Congo, for the past 20 years, is by the UN, which is controlled by some of these actors through the undemocratic structures of that body, such as the Security Council,” he said in a statement issued on his X handle yesterday.  

He added: “It is amazing how the UN can supervise and coexist with killers of Congolese and Ugandans in eastern Congo for the last 20 years, and they are not bothered at all. They have created free space for all sorts of empty-headed pigs to gather, train, steal resources of Congo, kill Congolese and, once in a while, kill Ugandans, as well as undermining the economic future of the people of the Great Lakes.”  

Mr Museveni said he will now consolidate efforts with the Congolese government to weed out the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) terrorists accused of multiple attacks in both countries.

Efforts to get a comment on the matter from the United Nations were futile by press time yesterday. When contacted, Ms Susan Namondo, the UN resident coordinator, declined to comment on the matter, saying she had not seen the statement and was travelling. 

The UN, under the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (Monusco), has been in the DRC since 2010. Monusco replaced the United Nations Organisation Mission in DRC.

There were slightly more than 17,000 Monusco personnel deployed in the DRC as of February. 

The mission is, according to their website, authorised to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating to, among others, protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the DRC government in its stabilisation and peace consolidation efforts. 

This is not the first time the President come after the United Nations for failing to pacify the eastern Congo. In his 2018 State of Nation Address, Mr Museveni said: “…rural-based terrorism and 20 banditry was totally defeated and we built military and intelligence capacity to ensure that Uganda will never be threatened by terrorists operating from the rural areas.” 

He added: “The terrorists of ADF are still in Congo, preserved there by the UN and the Congo government. If, however, they were to re-enter Uganda, they would be promptly and decisively defeated.”

The ADF is one of the more than 100 armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the UN. It was designated a terrorist organisation by the United States in March 2021.  

Kampala has accused the group of multiple attacks in the country, including the murder of two foreign tourists and their drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park last month, the July Lubhiriha attack that left 40 people dead, as well as multiple bombings in the capital last year.