On the Facebook social network, an image circulating shows Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi behind Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula signing an agreement with Rwandan President Paul Kagame under the mediation of the American Secretary of State during the United States summit. It’s wrong.
This first photo is the original version of the one taken out of context. This photo illustrates the signing of a memorandum of understanding on u.s. development assistance of the DRC-Zambia electric vehicle battery value chain. This photo is to be found icipublished on iwebrdc on December 14, 2022.
« It’s great to join Congolese President Tshisekedi with FM Lutundula and Zambian President Hichilema with FM Kakubo to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on U.S. assistance to develop the DRC-Zambia electric vehicle battery value chain, supporting further the objectives of the Mineral Security Partnership“, Can we read in a tweet from the American Secretary of State Antony Blinkin during this occasion.
It’s not about the DRC and Rwanda
On social networks, Internet users have taken the photo out of its initial context by adding Kagame, the Rwandan president.
Context
For several months the Diplomatic relations between the DRC and Rwanda are strained. Kinshasa accuses the Rwandan government of supporting the rebel group of the March 23 Movement (M23) which massacres populations in eastern DRC.
The UN report also revealed that the Rwandan army had provided aid to this rebel group. Kigali rejects all these accusations as a whole.
To manipulate public opinion, several people take advantage of this conflict by publishing images that are sometimes edited or taken out of their initial contexts.
Mo Esapa