The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has agreed to send troops to eastern DR Congo by the end of September 2023.
The decision was reached on Tuesday, July 11, during a meeting of SADC presidents chaired by Namibia’s Hage Geingob which discussed the security situation in eastern DR Congo and the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
“Our collective resolve as a bloc is that security, safety, and the stability of our region must be safeguarded at all cost,” Geingob said, reading the meeting’s resolutions.
The SADC mission in DR Congo will be deployed by September 30, even as the country prefers to hold national elections on December 20, he said.
“Emphasis will therefore also be placed on the political and diplomatic front” for the parties to the conflict in eastern DR Congo to “come to the table to ensure a lasting solution,” Geingob noted.
In attendance at the virtual meeting were Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Zimbabwe’s Emerson Mnangagwa and Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema, among other leaders.
The Southern African bloc approved a military deployment to eastern DR Congo on May 8, saying the troops would “address the prevailing situation.”
The latest decision follows a meeting between Ramaphosa and Tshisekedi on July 7 in Kinshasa, where they discussed the security situation in eastern DR Congo. The two leaders said their governments were looking forward to bilateral defense agreements.
Eastern DR Congo already has troops from five countries of the East African Community (EAC). The EAC regional force deployed in December 2022.
Under a bilateral arrangement, Uganda also has troops in the country’s Ituri province. The EAC regional occupies positions vacated by the M23 rebels.
In March, Angola’s President Joao Lourenço announced that his country would send troops to DR Congo under a bilateral arrangement with Kinshasa.
Eastern DR Congo is home to more than 130 local and foreign armed groups responsible for various atrocities and human rights violations. Multiple interventions, including the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, have failed to end decades of violence.
