Congo elects its first female prime minister

President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo has elected the country’s first female prime minister on Monday. This fulfills a promise he made during his campaign and is an important step towards forming a new government after being reelected at the end of last year.

Judith Suminwa Tuluka, who used to work as a planning minister, will take on the new job when there is more and more violence happening in the east of the country, which has a lot of minerals and is next to Rwanda. According to the United Nations, more than seven million people have been forced to leave their homes because of the ongoing conflict. This makes it one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

Tuluka said she would try to make peace and improve things in her first speech on TV after getting her new job. It might take a long time before a new government is formed because they need to talk a lot with different political groups.

“I’m thinking about the people in the east and all over the country who are in conflict with enemies, some of whom are not easy to see,” she said. The conflict involves many armed groups, some of which are thought to be supported by the military of Rwanda. “I’m thinking about all these people, and my heart feels sad for them. ”

In a place far from the main city Kinshasa, many armed groups have taken over the eastern Congo. They are fighting to get control of the gold and other valuable things there, and they are also killing a lot of people.

The Congo government told both regional and UN peacekeepers to go away because they couldn’t fix the conflict. Violence has gotten worse as more people have left, and Congolese authorities have taken over.

Bintou Keita, UN’s top representative in Congo, said last week to the UN Security Council that the rebel group known as M23 had taken over a lot of land in the east. This has led to more violence and a lot of people having to leave their homes.

Tshisekedi was chosen for a second five-year term in December. He says Rwanda is helping the rebels with military support. Rwanda says it is not true, but experts from the UN say there is a lot of evidence that their soldiers are in Congo.

Last month, the United States asked Congo and Rwanda to try to avoid starting a war.

The United States The State Department said that Rwanda should remove its soldiers and weapons from eastern Congo. They also criticized M23, saying it is a group supported by Rwanda.

Last month, the Rwandan Foreign Ministry said that the country’s troops are protecting their land because Congo is increasing its military forces near the border.