Africa

Former DRC Joseph Kabila, on a Lake, in 2017

On Sep 19, 2022,  Lieutenant-general Philémon Yav Irung, the commander of the Third Defense zone of the FARDC covering the East of teh Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was arrested. According to sources close to the DRC government, he is accused of being an agent of the Rwandan military, working with M23 rebels commanders and preparing coup against Felix Tshisekedi.  The arrest is another event in the scandals going within the DRC government and military leadership. 

Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, in Gisenyi, Rwanda, June 25, 2021

On Sep 16, 2022, Vidiye Tshimanga, the special strategic advisor to  president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)  Felix Tshisekedi,  resigned a few hours after secret videos of his conversations with alleged investors, in which he was reportedly demanding bribes and kickbacks, were released. AfroAmerica Network has now obtained other secret recordings by agents connected to international organizations confirming that the special forces of the Congolese military FARDC have been deployed in East, not to fight the rebels as a priority, but mostly to make sure that the minerals, especially coltan and tourmaline, are exploited by entities connected  to officials in Kinshasa, and that these minerals are sold to specific agents, especially Rwandan entities,  who would pay the required kickbacks to DRC government officials, through high ranking military officers.   Most of those FARDC military officers are connected to M23 and the Rwandan government.

Vidiye Tshimanga, Special advisor to the DRC President Tshisekedi

On Wednesday, September 15, 2022, videos were leaked and released to media showing Vidiye Tshimanga, the special strategic advisor to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President, Felix Tshisekedi, offering unlimited access to mineral riches of the country in exchange of bribes and kickbacks, includiing  shares in the companies and underhand paybacks, for himself and the president. The videos appeared to be a work of undercover agents targeting the corrupt officials of DRC. Following the releases, Vidiye Tshimanga resigned on Thursday, Sep 16, 2022  morning, a few hours after the videos of his conversations with alleged investors, in which he was demanding bribes, were released.