The UN is guilty of "terrorism conservation project" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and causing chaos in many countries in the Sahel region, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on his X account (formerly known as Twitter).
"[...] Part of the terrorism in Africa is either created or conserved by some of the actors that try to be global policemen. The chaos in Libya and the surrounding countries of the Sahel (Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, etc.) was caused by some of these actors. The terrorism conservation project in Eastern Congo, for the past 20 years, is by the UN, which is controlled by some of these actors through the undemocratic structures of that body, such as the Security Council," he said.
He continued his harsh criticism of the UN, accusing the organization of supervising the murderers of Congolese and Ugandans in Eastern Congo.
"It is amazing how the UN can supervise and co-exist with killers of Congolese and Ugandans in Eastern Congo for the last 20 years, and they are not bothered at all. They have created free space for all sorts of empty-headed pigs to gather, train, steal resources of Congo, kill Congolese and, once in a while, kill Ugandans, as well as undermining the economic future of the people of the Great Lakes," he continued.
The president also said that Uganda would join forces with the DRC government to defeat the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels that have committed multiple crimes in both states.
The ADF is one of more than 120 armed groups operating in eastern Congo, many of them a legacy of regional wars fought since the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko's regime in the 1990s. Uganda, neighboring this region of the DRC, also suffers from terrorist attacks.
UN peacekeeping forces have been present in the DRC since 1999, following the onset of insurgencies in the country. The current MONUSCO mission (the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) began in the country in 2010, replacing MONUC (the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
According to the mission's website, its goals were "protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence" and supporting "the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts."
With his social media post, Museveni continues his long-standing criticism of the UN. Thus, in 2018, in the State of Nation Address, he accused the UN of "preserving" ADF militants in the Congo.
"[...] Rural-based terrorism and 20 banditry was totally defeated, and we built military and intelligence capacity to ensure that Uganda will never be threatened by terrorists operating from the rural areas. The terrorists of ADF are still in Congo, preserved there by the UN and the Congo government. If, however, they were to re-enter Uganda, they would be promptly and decisively defeated," he said.
As of February, there are 12,379 UN peacekeeping troops stationed in the DRC.
In September, at the UN General Assembly the leader of the DRC Felix Tshisekedi called on his government to speed up the withdrawal of the contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO so that it could begin at the end of the year.
Other organizations and experts have also criticized the conduct and results of UN peacekeeping missions.
For example, the Institute for Security Studies, an African research organization, wrote in October last year that "MONUSCO failed to protect the population from attacks by armed militants" which caused protests from the local population. The mission also under-prioritises "political dialogue and a people-centred protection approach to peacekeeping."
A 2014 UN report also pointed out that missions didn't respond to 80% of incidents when civilians were attacked in 2010-2013. But even when they did respond, they barely used force.
Moreover, peacekeeping forces have also been accused of sexual abuse. For example, in October, at least eight UN peacekeepers in the DRC were arrested over allegations of sexual assault.
However, Dr. Ismael Buchanan, Senior Lecturer and chief executive of Rwanda's International Affairs Institute in his interview to Sputnik this May urged not to forget that UN peacekeeping missions were not only failures, but also had their successes.
Among the reasons contributing to the failure of missions, he mentioned inaction by peacekeepers when civilians are under threat, funding problems, poor governance, conflicts of interest between sending states and hosting countries, and overly ambitious goals.