The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced at the summit of EAC leaders that it will not renew the mandate of the East African Community’s regional force when it expires on December 8th.
The summit held on Friday, November 24, directed the chiefs of defence staff for EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to meet before December 8 and deliberate the way forward for the regional force’s mandate.
Their recommendations will be submitted for the next summit.
The EAC’s peacekeeping mission was deployed over a year ago, in November 2022, to help stabilise Congo’s volatile east, where armed militias have terrorised civilians for years. It was to observe the withdrawal of the M23 rebel group, which fights the Congolese army in North Kivu province.
The original mandate was set for 12 months.
At a recent summit of EAC heads of state, the Congolese informed regional leaders of his decision to end the mission’s tenure next month. Reasons for the move were not explicitly given.
The regional force, with about 900 troops, mainly from Kenya and Uganda, was intended to support Congolese forces in restoring security. Though it has made some progress, fighting has continued across the mineral-rich North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
The impending departure of EAC troops has raised concerns about containing dozens of armed groups still active in eastern Congo amid years of regional conflict. Monitoring groups warn that ending the mission prematurely could undo recent security gains.
There has been no formal reaction yet from the EAC bloc, which includes Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania besides Uganda and Kenya.
The countries’ leaders just concluded an EAC summit in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, this week.
SADC is expected to deploy a military mission to the eastern DR Congo in December.
The regional force, with troops from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and South Sudan, currently occupies the rebels’ vacated positions.
However, the Congolese government has urged the regional force to fight the M23, which was not part of its mandate. Its first force commander resigned in April, citing threats to his personal security.
In September, the regional force’s mandate was extended for three months.
Eastern DR Congo, which is home to more than 130 local and foreign armed groups, has been volatile for nearly three decades.
Multiple interventions, including one of the UN’s longest and largest peacekeeping missions, MONUSCO, failed to end the decades of violence.
The 25-year-old UN mission in the country has been the target of demonstrations for failing to end the insecurity and plans to withdraw starting in December.
The EAC said in September that the UN was considering funding the regional force.
