PRESS RELEASE / Ministerial Meeting on Strategic Minerals – USA The Washington Agreement,lacking structural guarantees,threatens stability and strategic interests (CNRC)

PRESS RELEASE – CNRC
Ministerial Meeting on Strategic Minerals – USA

The National Council of the Congolese Resistance (CNRC, by its French acronym) issues an alert:

The Washington Agreement, lacking structural guarantees, threatens stability and strategic interests

Any agreement signed with Félix Tshisekedi, and before him with Joseph Kabila (both recruits of Rwanda), relies on allegedly Congolese state partners who are incapable of guaranteeing security, legitimacy, and legal continuity.

Paris, February 5, 2026 – The National Council of the Congolese Resistance (CNRC) expresses its deep reservations regarding the ability of the current Congolese government to guarantee the sustainability of any agreement whatsoever, and in particular the Washington Agreement.

The CNRC is astonished by the willingness of the United States to enter into a strategic partnership with an illegitimate and incompetent Congolese government, while, since Donald Trump’s accession to power, his administration has been striving to durably reshape the global market for critical minerals and rare earths. This is evidenced by the initiative that brought together more than 50 countries for a ministerial meeting in Washington this week.

While this dynamic makes perfect sense in light of new economic and geostrategic challenges, the CNRC is surprised to observe that, with regard to its relations with the DRC, instead of beginning with a cleanup of the Congolese political space, the United States is rushing into an approach that mortgages the outcome of any agreement signed with Félix Tshisekedi or that perpetuates those signed with his predecessor, Hyppolite Kanambe, alias “Joseph Kabila.”

The Washington Agreement does not have the support of the Congolese people, since they are not represented by Félix Tshisekedi and his illegitimate government, which remains under Kigali’s influence.

1. Indeed, today the majority of Congolese citizens (including the current government under popular pressure) are finally acknowledging that the CNRC and its initiator, Mr. Honoré Ngbanda (an intelligence officer), were right. They recognize that the DRC is an occupied country that was ruled for 18 years by a foreign impostor (Tanzanian/Rwandan) serving Kigali, namely Hyppolite Kanambe, alias Joseph Kabila.

Even the lawyers representing the same Congolese government in court during their trial against “Joseph Kabila” (sentenced to death) demonstrated themselves that he was not Congolese and that he used a false identity to access power in the DRC. All acts signed by Joseph Kabila are therefore null and void.

By thus acknowledging what Mr. Honoré Ngbanda and the Congolese resistance fighters have denounced for years, Félix Tshisekedi (another Rwandan recruit) and his puppet government have already implicitly recognized their lack of legitimacy.

2. It is therefore incoherent to claim to seek peace in the DRC while signing partnerships with a collaborationist, fence, tribalist, deceitful, corrupt, treacherous, kleptocratic, illegitimate government, despised by the Congolese people, and which moreover continues to distinguish itself through financial embezzlement and human rights violations.

The CNRC calls on the United States to prioritize respect for legality and the rights of the Congolese people, rather than exploiting the weaknesses and duplicity of Félix Tshisekedi for a gain that will prove hypothetical given the context and the growing awareness of the Congolese population.

This agreement, imposed without popular consensus, is structurally unstable. Securing critical minerals requires a functional state, not a symbolic one. Moreover, justice—trampled upon by the current Congolese government—is a condition for stability, not a moral luxury.

To be credible, the United States has an interest in investing in political legitimacy, not only in resources, even if its sole real objective is to integrate the DRC into a global strategy to secure its supply chains.

In its current configuration, the Washington Agreement relies on a Congolese state partner incapable of guaranteeing security, legitimacy, and legal continuity. This fragility exposes American strategic interests to major political, security, and economic risks. A sustainable agreement requires a legitimate, accountable partner subject to binding oversight mechanisms.

As this is still not the case today, despite announced commitments and due to the duplicity of all protagonists, no substantial improvement has been observed in security in eastern DRC, nor any verified withdrawal of foreign forces, nor justice for victims of serious crimes.

The CNRC recalls that:

The government in place remains under Kigali’s influence and continues to protect its interests, notably by becoming complicit in the entry into the DRC of thousands of Rwandans under the guise of the imaginary Banyamulenge ethnicity.
The total liberation of the DRC and respect for its sovereignty over the entirety of its territory are priorities that the Congolese people will assert sooner or later.
Peace cannot be decreed without verified security.
Economic agreements cannot be sustainable without political legitimacy and reliable partners.
The exploitation of strategic minerals must benefit the Congolese people within a sovereign and transparent framework.

The CNRC rejects neither peace nor international cooperation.It demands a just, dignified, and lasting peace, founded on responsibility, justice, and sovereignty.

For the National Council of the Congolese Resistance (CNRC)

Candide OKEKE