KIGALI, Rwanda — In a rare and candid testimony, Colonel Martin Muhumuza has recounted his long journey from Rwanda into the ranks of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) terrorist group, shedding light on the motivations, alliances, and ideological shifts that shaped one of Central Africa’s most controversial armed groups.
Speaking in an exclusive account, Colonel Muhumuza said he left Rwanda in 1994, in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda that had engulfed the country, fleeing into exile alongside thousands of other Rwandans. He described the period as one of chaos and uncertainty, when many Hutu Rwandans sought refuge in neighboring countries, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire).
Muhumuza explained that some of the forces that would later form the FDLR initially presented themselves as “Wazalendo” a Swahili term meaning “patriots” but were soon labeled “Banyecongo,” a derogatory term implying they had become Congolese rather than Rwandan.
According to his account, it was not long before he was drawn into the armed movement. In 1998, four years after leaving Rwanda, he joined the FDLR. He said his decision was driven by a shared mindset and the political convictions circulating among the exiles who had fled Rwanda in the wake of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)’s takeover.
Muhumuza said many in the exile community were deeply unhappy with the RPF’s seizure of power and ended the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and that this discontent gave rise to a resolve to continue the armed struggle against the new government in Kigali. It was within this hateful ideological climate, he said, that he enlisted in the FDLR in 1998.
Relations with Kinshasa
Colonel Muhumuza also revealed that the FDLR at one point maintained direct contacts with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He said that during that period, President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi held a particular view regarding the presence of these forces on Congolese soil.
His testimony offers a rare window into the complex and often murky relationships between armed groups and regional governments relationships that have fueled decades of instability in eastern Congo.
The FDLR, founded by remnants of the forces responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has long been accused of atrocities against civilians in eastern DRC. Its presence has been a major source of tension between Kigali and Kinshasa, with Rwanda repeatedly accusing Congo of harboring the group a charge Congolese authorities have at times denied and at other times acknowledged.
Muhumuza’s account, though partial, adds another layer to the long and tangled history of the FDLR, its origins, and the political calculations that have kept it alive for nearly three decades. His testimony also raises fresh questions about the extent of Kinshasa’s engagement with the group questions that are likely to reverberate in both regional, their genocide ideology and international circles.
