Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has lambasted Congolese Politician Julien Paluku Kahongya (pictured) for seemingly celebrating US sanctions against Rwanda.

Via X platform, Paluku who once served as Governor of North Kivu province, wrote that the sanctions were going to weaken Rwanda and solidify the Félix Tshisekedi regime.

Paluku went on to outline the consequences of the sanctions imposed on Rwanda especially senior members of the country’s military.

“The sanctions imposed by the Department of the Treasury/OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) on March 2, 2026, mark a historic turning point,” Paluku said.

He claims that the sanctions would trigger, political, diplomatic, financial and Security consequences.

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister responded to Paluku’s wishful thinking arguing that it wouldn’t take away mismanagement of DRC’s endemic problems.

“And thanks to the American sanctions against neighboring Rwanda, it is perfectly clear that all the issues related to endemic corruption in the DRC, to the capture of the wealth of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba by the Tshisekedi family, to the 250 armed groups that rule the law in the east and west of the country, to an incompetent and corrupt army, to the lack of roads and other basic infrastructure, to the absence of functional administrative structures, to hate speech and to the persecution of Congolese Tutsi will disappear like magic,” Nduhungirehe said.