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The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC) kicked off a state visit to Botswana on Tuesday to discuss bilateral issues, particularly the deployment of EAC security forces in the region
The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC) kicked off a state visit to Botswana on Tuesday to discuss bilateral issues, particularly the deployment of EAC security forces in the region. Importantly, in Botswana, he criticized the action of contingents belonging to the EAC force. Both leaders -DRC’s Felix Tschiskédi and his counterpart in Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi explored new opportunities to deepen bilateral cooperation and discussed continental integration, according to a statement issued by the Botswana President’s office. Tschiskédi has also visited the headquarters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
There was a special summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) prior to his visit, which was attended by a 16-member group that included DRC and Botswana. At the summit, it was agreed to deploy forces to help quell violence in the eastern DRC.
DRC’s president confirmed that his country would work to organize the coming of SADC troops. At the same time, he criticized the role of the already deployed troops in his country; namely troops from the East African Community. He further said that the M23 has wreaked normalcy in the region and some of the EAC forces were in complicity with them.
The DRC accuses Rwanda of backing the group. There are others who share this view, such as the US, French, and United Nations experts. As reported by www.trendsnafrica.com, UN chief Antonio Guterres recently addressed a meeting in Burundi of African nations that signed the 2013 accord to promote stability and security in DRC.
Despite those steps, the DRC President said that more than 100 armed groups — Congolese and foreign — still operate in the region threatening the stability of the entire Great Lakes region.
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The seven-nation East African Community (EAC) created a military force to respond to the crisis last June. Under that agreement, Kenyan soldiers were deployed in November followed this year by Burundian, Ugandan, and South Sudanese contingents. The EAC force’s mandate ends in June. The president further said if the mandate was not fulfilled, the DRC would return them and thank them for having tried, adding that his country had noticed a bond between the contingent of the EAC and the rebels. Importantly, during the DRC President’s visit, the DRC embassy in Botswana was opened.
