Emmanuel Macron discreetly met Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, potential candidate for the presidential election

Emmanuel Macron met Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege on Saturday March 4 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to information from France Inter. The interview was added to the French president’s agenda with the utmost discretion, just before his official meeting with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Saturday morning.

Emmanuel Macron and Denis Mukwege saw each other for an hour, face to face, in the residence of the French ambassador in Kinshasa. When meeting the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Emmanuel Macron wanted “to have the most precise and authentic feeling of the humanitarian situation on the spot”, explains his entourage to France Inter. He also wanted to put into practice his desire to “supporting the best in Africa”says an adviser.

Potential candidate for the December 2023 election

Nine months before the presidential election in the DRC, the gynecologist nicknamed “the man who repairs women” is a potential candidate. Emmanuel Macron’s advisers, however, assure that politics was not at all the subject of the discussion. According to information from France Inter, the Élysée took care to make this meeting public after the departure of Emmanuel Macron from the DRC, so as not to anger current President Félix Tshisekedi. “It would have created a stir for the authorities”says a French diplomat.

Emmanuel Macron ended a four-day tour in the DRC to restore the image of France in Central Africa. He also traveled to Angola, Gabon and Congo. In Kinshasa, the French president was eagerly awaited on the conflict in eastern DRC. Although he did not clearly condemn Rwanda, he issued firm warnings, believing that the DRC should not be “spoils of war”.