End Irish aid to Congo invader
Rwanda and Uganda have been deeply involved in plundering the Congo. Both Presidents Museveni of Uganda and Kagame of Rwanda are following a strategy of dividing up the Congo among rival warlords, which will allow them to have political influence in the country and, most importantly, access to its vast natural resources.
John O’ Shea of GOAL pointed out to the Joint Dail Committee on Foreign Affairs that Ireland also continues to give aid money to a corrupt and brutal Ugandan regime that is up its neck in the rape of the DRC. “This is horrific because they can use that aid money to further their warlike activities in the DRC, said Mr O’Shea.
The Congolese Irish Partnership (CIP), a non-governmental organisation active in Ireland and working closely with many grassroots organisations in the DRC, supports John O’Shea’s position. The CIP urges the Irish Government to stop all State aid to Uganda. If it is necessary to help poor people in Uganda, it is better to do it through missionaries and NGOs.
The CIP also urges Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to visit the DRC as soon as possible to see for himself the tragedy that is unfolding.
Hundreds of thousand of Congolese civilians, especially women and children, have been tortured and killed during the fight to secure control of natural resources.
Many more have died of starvation; thousands of women have been raped; child soldiers have been enlisted and children have been forced into hard labour in the mines.
Human rights activists who have denounced these abuses have been beaten, arrested, detained, forced to flee or murdered.
Pierrot Ngadi,
Chairperson,
Congolese Irish Partnership,
19, Belvedere Place,
Dublin 1.
