"The coordinator of the AFC/M23 alliance, Corneille Nangaa, used his New Year address to criticise the government in Kinshasa on Wednesday, accusing it of pursuing a strategy of 'begging' abroad that he said would not resolve the Democratic Republic of Congo’s crisis. Nangaa alleged that the administration of President Felix Tshisekedi had 'odiously betrayed' all peace agreements signed in 2025. “The Kinshasa regime has demonstrated that the agreement was for them nothing but a smokescreen, a simple tactical retreat to rearm and reorganise,” he said. Nangaa warned that the country was sliding down a 'dangerous slope', claiming that hate speech had become a 'state doctrine' broadcast on official channels, claiming this rhetoric has targeted citizens who speak Kinyarwanda, particularly Tutsis, as well as Swahili-speaking Congolese. “These compatriots, labelled as 'enemies from within', have been savagely massacred under the indifferent gaze of a silent international community,” he said. Nangaa further accused the government of making 'cynical choices', alleging that national natural resources were being sold off to maintain power and protect family interests. “Going to whimper and beg in various foreign capitals will never resolve the Congolese malaise: the killings, the massacres, the chronic insecurity, corruption, poverty, hate speech, and embezzlement,” he added. Nangaa concluded by declaring 2026 “a year to consolidate the struggle for freedom, justice, and the refoundation of the Congolese state”, urging citizens to unite and reject tribal divisions. Years of fighting between government forces and the M23 movement have displaced millions and destabilised large parts of eastern Congo. The conflict escalated this year, with M23 seizing the cities of Goma and Bukavu. Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of backing the group, an allegation Kigali strongly denies. The warring sides signed a peace and trade agreement with the United States, known as the Washington Accords, in December."