A report set to be considered by regional meeting has documented reasons leading to the expulsion of the Kenya-led regional force in the DRC.
Among the factors that led to the EAC Regional Force departure from DRC in December 2023 include disagreement on the mandate of the mission and its operations.
The report of the parliamentary information mission on violence and armed conflict in the east of the DRC said EACRF failed to provide support to Congolese troops’ efforts to reduce insecurity, as attacks on civilians and looting of local resources persists.
“Faced with this failure, this contingent of the EACRF was accused of cohabiting with the M23 rebels. The DRC Government was committed to reassessing the operations of the EACRF in the eastern part of the country.
“Demonstrations against the EACRF planned for January and March 2023 were intended to express public concern over the alleged passivity and inaction of the EACRF in their failure to defeat the M23 as well as other rebel groups. It should be noted that those who organized the protests were violently repressed by the elements of the police,” the report said.
The report is part of the documents to be considered at the 15th Ordinary Session of the Plenary Assembly of the FP-ICGLR in Luanda, Angola, this week.
The report further says the scope of EACRF’s mandate was also a point of contention between the EAC and the DRC government.
According to the EAC Summit, the report said, the regional force was to oversee the withdrawal of armed groups, including M23 rebels, from occupied areas in the eastern DRC.
There are estimated to be more than 120 armed groups in the eastern DRC region.
The mission was also to ensure that a ceasefire negotiated in December 2022 was observed.
“However, the DRC government wanted a more assertive posture, but EACRF had refused to engage in offensive operations. It is not clear how the two parties came to interpret the EACRF’s mandate so differently, and this had been a major point of contention throughout its deployment,” the report said.
EACRF finally withdrew from DRC in December 2023 and replaced by South Africa-led Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC)
The military presence of EACRF was intended to complement a political process that involved the regional bloc’s leadership.
“However, this political process has stalled amid mounting tension between the DRC and Rwanda Accusations of Rwanda’s support for M23 rebels remain a crucial point of discord between the two countries,” the port said.
Rwanda says that the Nairobi peace process was thwarted by the DRC government’s refusal to renew the mandate of the EACRF.
Rwanda’s Senate President Kalinda François-Xavier said the regional initiative must be respected for peace and stability to prevail.
During a mission to Rwanda, Kalinda told the ICGLR team that the withdrawal of the EACRF in December 2023 had its own consequences on the civilian population as it led to refugees.
“Regarding the Nairobi process, Honorable Kalinda stated that it had two components: the political component and the military component. Regarding the political component, he explained that it was intended for all parties to the conflict to engage in dialogue and to do so honestly, in order to reach an amicable solution. He stated that this objective had not been achieved because the process had been thwarted by the lack of political will and honest dialogue on the part of the DRC government,” the report said.
.During a meeting with the Forum of Parliaments of ICGLR during their mission in Kenya in March, President William Ruto, the EAC chairperson, said the AU was unable to support the EACRF, the EAC intervention in eastern DRC.
“The Head of State noted that had the AU had the necessary capacity, it would have done much to address the security challenges in the DRC,” the report said.
If adopted, the report will be the first documented review of the botched regional intervention in the DRC.
Ina televised interview, Rwanda President Paul Kagame last month criticized EAC leaders’ silence following DRC’s expulsion of EACRF troops.
“The EAC troops were expelled. Until now I Am still wondering , what is EAC? In reality, EAC does not exist since this issue arose. Because we were never told what happened. Since their expulsion, no one has explained to us,” President Kagame said.
