"…
the M23 Movement categorically states that there is no and has never
been any forced recruitment by M23," Rene Abandi, the M23
spokesperson said in a statement, maintaining that membership into
its ranks was on one's free will.

"M23
Movement reiterates that membership in M23 is voluntary and based on
belief in and a strong commitment to the cause of the Movement which
is a system of governance that serves the interests of all
Congolese."

The
rebel group also disowned Lt. Richard Bisangwa, who in an interview
with New Vision at the Amnesty Commission offices, accused the rebel
outfit of running clandestine recruitment cells in Uganda,
particularly in Kampala.

He
claimed to have forcefully been conscripted into the ranks of the
outfit after being duped of a lucrative contract with the United
Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (MONUSCO).

"Lt.
Richard Bisangwa who claims to have served under the CNDP (National
Congress for Defense of the People) in 2008 and later forcefully
recruited into M23, is not known to M23 and did not at any one time
serve under CNDP," Abandi said.

M23
accused MONUSCO of orchestrating the falsehoods against them.

"MONUSCO,
which Lt. Bisangwa claims facilitated his escape and journey from M23
territory to Kampala, is an active fighting force against M23 in
North Kivu Province and have over the last two years been largely
responsible for shaping a negative script about M23 as well as
magnifying and distorting key M23-related issues in order to fit
other narratives and agenda," the statement reads.

In
an exclusive interview, Lt. Bisangwa, who is a Ugandan, spoke of how
he was approached, duped, abducted and later forcefully recruited
into the outfit in February before escaping early last month and
later flown back into Uganda.

"They
deceived me that there is a job to repair and service MONUSCO
vehicles but when a reached Bunagana on the Congo side, they abducted
me and took away all my personal effects and documents,"
Bisangwa, who claims he served as an artillery gunner, said in the
interview.

However
the M23, in the statement, sought to punch holes in Bisangwa's side
of the story, dismissing his claims as a fabrication that is lacking
in truth and is absurd.

"He
claims he escaped because he was dissatisfied with his 'rank' in M23.
Surely, rank would be the last thing that would concern a person who
was duped and forcefully conscripted."