KajyibwamiNotes

On 27 June 2025, the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, D.C. . To many observers, this appeared to be a major diplomatic breakthrough. The two countries have had a long and tense relationship, often expressed through conflict in eastern Congo, and the agreement was presented as a step toward ending years of instability. For those encountering this issue for the first time, however, it is important to understand that the agreement did not emerge in a vacuum—it is rooted in a deeply complex and long-running regional conflict. Eastern Congo has, for decades, been one of the most volatile regions in the world. Despite its vast natural wealth, including minerals essential to global technology industries, the region has remained plagued by insecurity and armed violence. Numerous armed groups operate there, driven by a mixture of political, economic, and ethnic motivations. Among them is the Democratic Forces for the Libera...

In 2025, Rwanda registered 4,479 divorces through its Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system. At first glance, this may appear to be a routine demographic figure—another statistic in an annual report. But that interpretation misses the deeper reality. These are not abstract numbers. They represent the legal dissolution of thousands of marriages, each involving families, shared assets, children, and long-term consequences that extend far beyond the courtroom. This data point is not merely descriptive; it is diagnostic. It reveals evolving social patterns, legal vulnerabilities, and structural pressures within Rwandan society. More importantly, it exposes a critical gap between how individuals approach marriage and how they navigate its legal termination.   Divorce as a Legal Event, Not Just a Personal Crisis Divorce is often perceived primarily as an emotional rupture. While that dimension is undeniable, the legal system treats it very differently. In Rwanda, divorce is a fo...

  “Crush your enemy totally.” It is one of the most provocative lines in The 48 Laws of Power—and one that sits uncomfortably within the language of diplomacy. Yet, stripped of its bluntness, it captures a strategic dilemma that the Great Lakes region has yet to resolve: what happens when a threat is not managed to extinction, but merely contained? There is a persistent temptation in international diplomacy to treat peace as a process detached from its most inconvenient realities. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Great Lakes region, where frameworks are signed, statements are issued, and yet the fundamental driver of insecurity remains largely unaddressed. At the center of this contradiction lies the continued presence of the FDLR in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—a force Rwanda has, for years, identified not merely as a security concern, but as an existential threat. Rwanda’s position is neither new nor ambiguous. Before and after the 2013 Peace, Security a...