Rwanda Sanctions Target Defence Ministry Over Congo

The United States imposed Rwanda sanctions on October 28, targeting Rwanda's Ministry of Defence and Zigama Credit and Savings Society over alleged support for the March 23 Movement in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Treasury Department. The action blocks property belonging to the designated parties under United States jurisdiction and generally bars Americans from dealing with them unless a licence applies.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the action held Rwanda to commitments made under the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity. "Rwanda must halt its support for M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern DRC," Bessent said. The embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Washington welcomed the measures on the same day and called for Rwanda to end its support for the armed group and withdraw its troops from Congolese territory.

What Washington announced

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Rwandan Ministry of Defence as the umbrella organisation for Rwanda's security services, including the Rwanda Defence Force, which Washington sanctioned on March 2. According to Treasury, the ministry directed the force to deploy thousands of troops across North and South Kivu provinces in eastern Congo, where they conducted operations alongside M23 and supplied the armed group with military equipment, supplies, logistical support and training.

Treasury also said the Rwanda Defence Force introduced surface-to-air missile systems and jamming equipment to the battlefield, creating risks for civilian aviation in eastern Congo. The ministry was designated for materially assisting and providing financial, material, logistical and technological support for the force, under an executive order covering the Congo conflict.

Zigama, a financial institution that operates on behalf of Rwanda's security services, was designated alongside the ministry. Treasury said Zigama facilitated payments to suppliers in China and other countries for weapons, ammunition and other military equipment for the Rwanda Defence Force, and covered travel and accommodation costs for training activities. A Zigama branch enabled the transportation of gold sourced from territory controlled by M23 to Kigali, and Zigama handled financial transactions for M23 and the Congo River Alliance amounting to tens of millions of dollars, according to Treasury.

The designation blocks property and interests in property of the named parties that are in the United States or in the possession or control of United States persons, and that property must be reported to the Treasury Department. Entities owned directly or indirectly, individually or in aggregate, at a threshold of 50 percent or more by a blocked person are also blocked. Violations may draw civil or criminal penalties. Treasury said the goal of sanctions is not punishment alone but a change in behaviour, and a blocked person may petition for removal from the list.

The peace deal behind the decision

The Washington Accords were signed on December 4, 2025, by the heads of state of Congo and Rwanda, Presidents Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, with the United States acting as broker. The agreement aimed to support a peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern Congo and set out a regional economic framework to expand trade and investment, improve transparency in critical minerals supply chains and promote investment across the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Fighting has continued despite the agreement. M23, a group designated by the United States and the United Nations, re-emerged in 2021 and later captured Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu, during a major advance. The group has also taken control of mining areas in eastern Congo, including gold mines in South Kivu and Rubaya, an expansive area for coltan mining in North Kivu. Treasury said civilians in areas under M23 control have faced forced labour, dangerous working conditions and illegal taxation schemes, and that minerals sourced from territory controlled by the group are integrated into supply chains in Rwanda, whose domestic mining capacity is smaller than the export volumes reported since the rebellion began.

On October 12, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation announced its formation as the successor to the Congo River Alliance, the political wing of M23, according to Treasury. The announcement added a fresh complication to a conflict in which rival claims about who speaks for the rebellion, and about which commitments remain unmet, have shaped each round of diplomacy.

What Kigali and Kinshasa said

Rwanda has repeatedly denied backing M23. Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the Washington Accords contain commitments on the neutralisation of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Hutu militia rooted in the 1994 genocide, that are unmet, as reported by Reuters. Kigali has argued that its security concerns, above all the presence of that militia, must be addressed as part of any resolution to the conflict.

Kinshasa has taken the opposite view. The Congolese embassy in Washington said in a statement shared on social media that violations of the Washington Accords must carry consequences, and it thanked Bessent for the measures. Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of backing M23 and violating Congolese sovereignty, while M23 and its political-military alliance have held substantial territory and mineral-producing areas in the east.

Washington had already sanctioned the Rwanda Defence Force earlier in the year, along with senior military officials accused of supporting M23, and it has targeted individuals and networks accused of moving minerals from conflict-affected areas.

The latest designations extend that campaign from individual officers and the force itself to the ministry that directs it and to a financial institution accused of moving its money. Their effect will depend on enforcement, on whether financial restrictions bite, and on whether diplomacy can turn the measures into verifiable steps on the ground: a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of forces where agreements require it, and protection for civilians living in North and South Kivu. For readers following the conflict, the designations are a concrete test of the Washington Accords, since the agreement promised consequences for broken commitments and the United States has now attached a price to them. The full Treasury announcement is available in the Treasury Department's press release, and Reuters reported the sanctions and the reaction from Kigali in its coverage of the measures. More world coverage is available in GenZ NewZ world coverage.