Makolo made the remarks on Sunday, August 16, 2026, in response to DRC Government Spokesperson and Minister of Communication and Media Patrick Muyaya, who accused Rwanda of using the massacre for political purposes.

In a post on X, Makolo blamed Muyaya for continuing to “twist a day of remembrance for the victims of the Gatumba massacre into another platform for anti-Rwanda propaganda.”
“The Banyamulenge who were slaughtered in 2004 by DRC's Burundian allies were Congolese,” Makolo said.

She said the memory of the victims should not be used as a political tool by Kinshasa or as a basis for what she called “selective outrage” while the FDLR and other groups continue to operate in the DRC.

“Their memory is not Kinshasa’s political tool, nor is it an invitation for selective outrage while the Kinshasa-sponsored FDLR and other genocidal remnants still operate with impunity on DRC soil, in violation of the Washington Peace Agreement,” she wrote.

Makolo further accused Kinshasa of deliberately diverting attention from what Rwanda considers the underlying causes of insecurity in eastern DRC.

“Deliberately obscuring/distracting from the real sources of insecurity in eastern DRC is the core of ‘instrumentalisation’,” she said.
Muyaya had said the Banyamulenge are Congolese rather than Rwandans living in Congo and accused Rwanda of using the Gatumba massacre to advance its political agenda. Rwanda has repeatedly denied accusations that it is responsible for insecurity in eastern DRC.

The Gatumba massacre occurred on August 13, 2004, at a refugee camp near Burundi’s border with the DRC. More than 150 Congolese refugees, most of them Banyamulenge, were killed, while more than 100 others were injured.

The attack was attributed to fighters from Burundi’s FNL, a predominantly Hutu rebel movement. The victims were largely Banyamulenge, a Congolese community commonly associated with the Tutsi population of eastern DRC.

The FNL initially claimed responsibility for the attack, although one of its former leaders later denied that the group had issued such a statement.

Burundi’s role in the events has also been questioned beyond the fact that the massacre occurred on its territory. Investigations reported that Burundian soldiers and police did not intervene even though the killings were taking place only metres from their military installations.

In the DRC, allegations also emerged after the massacre that some Congolese Mai-Mai fighters may have been involved in the attack. Kinshasa was urged to conduct a thorough investigation into the possible involvement of its nationals, particularly individuals who may have been serving in the national armed forces.

The massacre has remained a subject of calls for accountability, with survivors and relatives of victims renewing efforts to pursue justice in recent years.

In 2024, survivors and relatives of those killed renewed efforts to seek justice, filing complaints against individuals suspected of involvement in the massacre. Information relating to the cases was also submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC).