Fiston Mututsi

Transforming young individuals into true leaders and leaders into changemakers. The opinions expressed here reflect my thoughts, feelings, and observations.

[TWIRWANEHOMOISE @TWIRWANEHOMOI]

#Kenya: Kenyans are good people; the problem is Ruto.

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨🇨🇩🇰🇪We have nowhere to belong.

President Ruto, we, the Banyamulenge, are refugees in Kenya. These small jobs feed our children and keep us alive. We ask only for rights, safety, and peace.

Say our name. Share this.

#Banyamulenge #NoWhereToBelong #RefugeesInKenya

[Alex Mvuka, Ph.D. @AlexMvuka]

Tanzania’s enigmatic position in the DRC crisis.

Drawing on Tanzania’s contentious historical involvement in the DRC conflict, this article argues that its support for President Tshisekedi is driven more by ethnocentric and identity-based regional politics than by narrowly defined strategic interests.

2021 – 2026 Tanzania’s support to Tshisekedi

Tshisekedi's leadership has been accompanied by systematic hate campaigns, incidents of cannibalism, and the legitimisation of armed groups associated with the Mai-Mai and FDLR, whose rhetoric and grievances have been characterised by genocidal motives.

Despite this broader context, Tanzania provided military support alongside a coalition comprising Mai-Mai and FDLR militias. Tanzania’s senior officer, Colonel Ayubu, delivered the widely cited “Piga Kunguru” speech, which was particularly significant and was interpreted by many as reflecting support for President Tshisekedi’s broader political aspirations, including the possibility of pursuing regime change in Kigali - a motivation seeming based on ethnocentric lenses.

Tanzania’s support to Burundi

For the past five years, Burundi has deployed troops in South and North Kivu, targeting Banyamulenge/Tutsi communities and supporting a coalition of government forces, FDLR, and Mai-Mai groups accused of systematic attacks and ethnic cleansing (of genocidal nature). There have also been significant allegations of Tanzanian military involvement back-up support to the drone-attack campaign targeting Banyamulenge communities in South Kivu during 2025–2026. Tanzania’s close alliance with Burundi and its failure to publicly challenge these acts raise broader questions about regional political alliances, identity-based considerations, and its role in the DRC conflict.

August 1998 - Kamina military base

On 5th August 1998, following the outbreak of the Second Congo War between the government of Laurent-Désiré Kabila and the RCD-Goma rebellion, an estimated 300 to 400 unarmed ethnic Tutsi/Banyamulenge military recruits and officers were brutally killed at the Kamina military base in Katanga Province. The role and presence of Tanzanian forces at the base is critical as it was under their management or operational oversight at the time.

The 616 Tanzanian troops, together with their military equipment and heavy armaments, were evacuated from Kamina military base on 25 August 1998, approximately 20 days after the reported killings. The evacuation was carried out by the South African Air Force (SAAF) using Boeing 707 and C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The timing and circumstances of the evacuation raise important questions about the role and responsibilities of Tanzanian forces at Kamina during and immediately following the killings. An eyewitness interviewed in Paris in 2007 confirmed that Tanzanian military officers supervised the killings.

Tanzania's complicity in the abduction of the Banyamulenge girls

In 1996, hundreds of Banyamulenge were subjected to selective and brutal killings in Baraka, Lweba, Nganja, Abela, and Mboko in South Kivu (ex Zaire). The perpetrators included members of the Babembe community, Interahamwe militias responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and Zairian government forces. Victims were subjected to extreme forms of violence to inflict pains and sufferings in the victims bodies, while some women and girls were abducted and taken across the border to Tanzania, in Nyarugusu refugee camp.

For more than 25 years, the families of those abducted have sought the assistance of Tanzanian authorities to establish the fate of their relatives and pursue accountability, but these efforts have failed. Family members who attempted to locate and reunite with their daughters and wives were arrested by Tanzanian police. Victims’ families suggest that elements of the Tanzanian security apparatus provided protection or support to individuals implicated in the abductions.

Tanzania under President Jakaya Kikwete

Between 2013 and 2016, relations between Rwanda and Tanzania deteriorated sharply under President Jakaya Kikwete, following his call for Rwanda to negotiate with the FDLR, an armed group linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The tensions were compounded by Tanzania’s expulsion of thousands of people of Rwandan descent on alleged immigration grounds, as well as Kikwete’s engagement with Rwandan opposition figures, including the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), and representatives of the FDLR.

Conclusion

Tanzania’s role in the DRC crisis is ethnically motivated than strategic interest. Its military involvement in the DRC can be understood within the broader context of its positioning towards Rwanda and the politics of identity in the DRC and Burundi, identity-based political perceptions and regional ethnic dynamics have mainly influenced its regional engagement. Tanzania's role in the persecution of Banyamulenge/Tutsi people from 1998 - 2026 warrants closer examination.

[NoWhereToBelongBanyamulenge @NoWhereTBB]

🚨🇨🇩🇰🇪We did not come here to take anyone’s place.
We came because home became a grave.

President @WilliamsRuto Usifunge mlango wa mwisho tulionao.
Hatuombi sadaka.
Tunaomba kuishi.
#NoWhereToBelong #Banyamulenge #WakimbiziKenya #HakiUsalamaAmani #NoWhereToBelong

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨🇨🇩🇰🇪We have nowhere to belong.

President Ruto, we, the Banyamulenge, are refugees in Kenya. These small jobs feed our children and keep us alive. We ask only for rights, safety, and peace.

Say our name. Share this.

#Banyamulenge #NoWhereToBelong #RefugeesInKenya

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨Banyamulenge, still here, still alive #trump #drc #rwanda #unitesstatesofamerica #Unitednations #Kenya

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨🇨🇩🇰🇪We did not come here to take anyone’s place.
We came because home became a grave.

President Ruto
We, the Banyamulenge, are refugees in Kenya.
These small jobs are not “foreign trade.”
They are how a mother feeds a child.
How a father keeps a roof.
How a family that has already lost everything tries, one day at a time, to stay human.
We ask for only three things:
Rights. Safety. Peace.
Do not close the last door we have left.
We are not asking for charity.
We are asking to live.

Hatukujia kuiba nafasi ya mtu.
Tulikimbia kwa sababu nyumbani kulikuwa kaburi.

🇰🇪 Rais Ruto,
Sisi Banyamulenge ni wakimbizi nchini Kenya.
Hizi kazi ndogo ndogo si biashara ya kigeni.
Ni njia ya mama kulisha mtoto.
Njia ya baba kuhifadhi paa.
Njia ya familia iliyopoteza kila kitu kujaribu kuishi tena, siku moja baada ya nyingine.
Tunaomba vitu vitatu tu:
Haki. Usalama. Amani.
Usifunge mlango wa mwisho tulionao.
Hatuombi sadaka.
Tunaomba kuishi.
#NoWhereToBelong #Banyamulenge #WakimbiziKenya #HakiUsalamaAmani #NoWhereToBelong Banyamulenge WeAreRefugees Kenya RightsSafetyPeace

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨🇨🇩They told us to stay quiet. We will not.

This president chose fear. He let Banyamulenge be called invaders and foreigners. He left that poison in the open while villages were attacked and families trapped in the highlands.

That is not leadership. That is a crime against Banyamulenge, and against Congo.

Citizenship became a weapon. Public money disappeared while the east burned. Young people: wake up. Learn. Organize. Do the work.

Say the name. Banyamulenge. Congolese. Not guests.
He failed this country on purpose. We will not.

#Banyamulenge #DRC #Congo #Minembwe #SayTheName
#PAUL_KAGAME #felix #ldc #Unitednations #rwanda #FPR #FARDC #humanrightswatch #patrickmuyaya

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨🇨🇩They told us to stay quiet. We will not.

This president chose fear. He let Banyamulenge be called invaders and foreigners. He left that poison in the open while villages were attacked and families trapped in the highlands.

That is not leadership. That is a crime against Banyamulenge, and against Congo.

Citizenship became a weapon. Public money disappeared while the east burned. Young people: wake up. Learn. Organize. Do the work.

Say the name. Banyamulenge. Congolese. Not guests.
He failed this country on purpose. We will not.

#Banyamulenge #DRC #Congo #Minembwe #SayTheName
#PAUL_KAGAME #felix #ldc #Unitednations #rwanda #FPR #FARDC #humanrightswatch #patrickmuyaya

[Obed Byishimo Nday @OByishimo]

Your Excellency @WilliamsRuto ,

We respectfully call upon your leadership and the Government of Kenya to hear the voices of Banyamulenge refugees living in Kenya.

For many families, these small businesses and jobs are not simply a source of income—they are how they feed their children, preserve their dignity, and rebuild lives already marked by displacement.

Our appeal is simple: protection, safety, dignity, and the opportunity to live and work in peace.

Your Excellency, we ask you to stand with these vulnerable families and ensure that their rights and livelihoods are protected.

We are refugees, but we are also mothers, fathers, children, workers, and human beings deserving of safety and dignity.

🇰🇪🤝🇨🇩
Rights. Safety. Peace.

#Banyamulenge
#NoWhereToBelong

[echoes of mulenge @mulenge_echoes]

@WilliamsRuto, we urgently call on you to protect Banyamulenge refugees who depend on these jobs to feed their families.Please don’t let displacement become a sentence to poverty. Let us work,live safely,and rebuild our lives with dignity.

🇰🇪🤝🇨🇩

#Banyamulenge @NoWhereToBelong

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨🇨🇩🇰🇪We did not come here to take anyone’s place.
We came because home became a grave.

President Ruto
We, the Banyamulenge, are refugees in Kenya.
These small jobs are not “foreign trade.”
They are how a mother feeds a child.
How a father keeps a roof.
How a family that has already lost everything tries, one day at a time, to stay human.
We ask for only three things:
Rights. Safety. Peace.
Do not close the last door we have left.
We are not asking for charity.
We are asking to live.

Hatukujia kuiba nafasi ya mtu.
Tulikimbia kwa sababu nyumbani kulikuwa kaburi.

🇰🇪 Rais Ruto,
Sisi Banyamulenge ni wakimbizi nchini Kenya.
Hizi kazi ndogo ndogo si biashara ya kigeni.
Ni njia ya mama kulisha mtoto.
Njia ya baba kuhifadhi paa.
Njia ya familia iliyopoteza kila kitu kujaribu kuishi tena, siku moja baada ya nyingine.
Tunaomba vitu vitatu tu:
Haki. Usalama. Amani.
Usifunge mlango wa mwisho tulionao.
Hatuombi sadaka.
Tunaomba kuishi.
#NoWhereToBelong #Banyamulenge #WakimbiziKenya #HakiUsalamaAmani #NoWhereToBelong Banyamulenge WeAreRefugees Kenya RightsSafetyPeace

[Mama Urwagasabo Tv @Mamaurwagasabo1]

Mu gihe imibare ya za gatanya ikomeje kwiyongera mu Rwanda aho mu mezi 6 ya mbere y’umwaka wa 2026, inkiko zo mu Rwanda zakiriye imanza z’ubutane bwa burundu zisaga ibihumbi 3, bamwe mu baturage bo mu Ntara y'Amajyepfo twaganiriye bavuga ko biterwa n’impamvu nyinshi ziganjemo ubuharike no gucana inyuma.

🎤@Mosezog @RwandaGender @RwandaSouth #MamaUrwagasaboTV

[Rugabo Fidèle @Fidelrugabo]

Adui FARDC, FNDB, FDLR, P5, Wazalendo na Mercenaries. Bakomeje kugaba ibitero bya drones na shelling ya bombs za 120MM muri Nyaruhinga na Mukoko bituruka kwa Mulima. Ni mugihe ibindi bitero birimo gutegurwa muri axes za Rugezi na Kabanju. MRDP/M23 ikaba ibyamaganiye kure.

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨Banyamulenge, still here, still alive #trump #drc #rwanda #unitesstatesofamerica #Unitednations #Kenya

[Dr Rabiot @ENIMELEKI]

#RDC: Regardez cette magnifique photo du #coordinateur Welcome #Kamasa et d'autres dirigeants du #MRDP aux côtés de leurs aînés, qui se sont engagés à combattre les ennemis du peuple banyamulenge tels que les gouvernements du Congo et du Burundi. @Presidence_RDC @PatrickMuyaya

[TWIRWANEHOMOISE @TWIRWANEHOMOI]

#RDC: President @WilliamsRuto calls for the closure of all small businesses run by foreigners, most of whose owners are from the #DRC, #Rwanda and #Burundi.

[Mugisha Twirwaneho @byuku_senge]

Imfura Michael abajije @kongolo3 ibibazo byiza umuntu wese yabaza umuntu ushigikira ubutegetsi bwa Kinshasa

Ariko mwakunva ukuntu bamusubije mwabantu mweee ndumiwe 🤣🤣

🚨Amafranga sikintu 🤣🤣

@nfifumu60790 wakoze kubibazo byiza nubwo utasubijwe uko biri 👇🏻

[Fiston Mututsi @fistonmututsi]

🚨I Am Still Alive. That Is Already an Argument. Say the Name: Banyamulenge

#unitednations #un #rwanda #drc