Foreign Minister Nduhungirehe accuses Christophe Rigaud of spreading misinformation
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amba. Olivier Nduhungirehe, has criticised French journalist Christophe Rigaud for what he described as deliberate misinformation in his reporting on recent peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
On July 20, 2025, Christophe Rigaud, founder of Afrikarabia, a media outlet focusing on DRC affairs, published an article questioning whether the AFC/M23 coalition would withdraw its fighters from territories under its control following the signing of a principles agreement in Qatar on July 19.
In his article, Rigaud included a photograph taken in April 2025 showing Rwandan security officials alongside Massad Boulos, the advisor to former US President Donald Trump on Africa-US partnerships, and Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. However, the caption under the image read: “Government of Congo and AFC/M23 rebels in Doha.”
Minister Nduhungirehe responded on July 21, denouncing Rigaud’s actions as a deliberate attempt to mislead readers and an outright violation of journalism ethics.
“Another example of Christophe Rigaud’s attempt to mislead, disregarding the basic principle of journalism,” Nduhungirehe stated.
He added that Rigaud intentionally used the misleading photograph despite the availability of multiple accurate images from the July 19 signing ceremony between the DRC government and AFC/M23.
“In a context where there are many photos of the signing of the DRC-AFC/M23 principles available online, Christophe Rigaud deliberately chose an old photo of Congolese and Rwandan officials with Massad Boulos and Mohamed Al-Khulaifi in Doha, giving it the caption: ‘Government of Congo and AFC/M23 rebels in Doha,’” Nduhungirehe explained.
Following the backlash, Rigaud removed the misleading image from the article and replaced it with a photo showing President Félix Tshisekedi’s representative, Sumba Sita Mambu, and AFC/M23 Secretary-General Benjamin Mbonimpa signing the agreement.
After being criticised, Rigaud replaced it with this one showing the representative of the DRC government and AFC/M23 signing the principles agreement
