Windhoek – Namibian President Hage Geingob, as the Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, on Tuesday, called for peace and an end to hostilities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In a statement, Geingob appealed for a calm and immediate ceasefire and for armed groups, including the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), to disarm.
“Consistent with the mandate of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) within the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, SADC commits to continuing to play a supportive and constructive role in order to strengthen the conditions of peace in the Eastern DRC,” he said.
He added tha,t “Following the meeting of the SADC Organ Troika in Maseru, Lesotho on 28 October 2022, the leaders of the Organ pledged to further work with the authorities in Kinshasa, the United Nations, and Monusco to ensure the effectiveness of the Force Intervention Brigade.”
He said he spoke on phone to DRC President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame about the worsening political and military situation in eastern DRC.
In consultation with other Troika members, outgoing chairman of the organ South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, and incoming chairperson Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Geingob said he reaffirms SADC’s support for the mediation led by the chairman of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), President Joao Lourenco of the Republic of Angola.
Geingob said he is pleased with the commitment of presidents Kagame and Tshisekedi to the Luanda and Nairobi processes to give peace a chance by finding lasting solutions to the security challenges in the eastern DRC.
Meanwhile, the African Union has declared that it is “extremely preoccupied” by the deteriorating security situation in eastern DRC and called for an immediate ceasefire.
“The AU calls on all the parties to establish an immediate ceasefire and respect international law, the security of civilians and the stability at the borders of all countries in the region”, the African Union said in a statement on October 31.
The statement was signed by the Chairman of the Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall, and the AU Commission President, Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat.
“It also exhorts all the parties involved to engage in constructive dialogue within the context of existing mechanisms, the context of peace, security and the cooperation of the African Union for the DR Congo and the region, and for dialogue and inter-Congolese peace of the East African Community”, the statement said, adding that in this regard, it “calls on all the parties to participate in good faith in the third inter-Congolese peace talks”
These are scheduled to be held in Nairobi, beginning on November 4.
The African Union has expressed its “total support for the Luanda roadmap aimed at normalising the political relations between the DR Congo and Rwanda” and encourages the Angolan president Joao Lourenco “to continue his mission as facilitator of constructive dialogue between the two brotherly countries of DR Congo and Rwanda”.
The DR Congo expelled the Rwandan ambassador to the DR Congo, Vincent Karega on October 29. Fighting has intensified in the eastern part of the country between the Congolese army and the March 23 (M23) rebels, whom the Kinshasa authorities accuse Rwanda of supporting, an accusation continuously denied by Rwanda.
The decision came after a meeting of the higher defence council of the DR Congo presided over by President Felix Tshisekedi who reported the “massive arrival of elements of the Rwandan army to support the M23 with a view to launching a general offensive against positions of the Congolese armed forces”.
The resumption of tension in the eastern DR Congo has also led to United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) raising the level of alert of its troops in support of the DR Congo army in their operations against the M23 rebels.
