What next after EAC force mandate in DR Congo ends

Arusha. What’s next after the mandate of a regional force that was deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expires?

The DRC government is categorical that it will not extend the mandate of the force sent there at the end of last year for peace keeping.

The Kinshasa authorities maintain that the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) had slept on its job by failing to effectively neutralise M23 rebels.

The EAC Heads of State, during their summit held here on Friday, were told that the mandate of the force would, indeed, expire on December 8th.

But in a show of their increased concern on the peace prospects, they directed the military chiefs in the region to meet and deliberate further on the conflict.

A communique issued at the end of the high level meeting notes that DRC will not extend the mandate of the EACRF beyond December 8th.

The presidents of the EAC partner states - they are now eight after the admission of Somalia - stressed a need for a new way forward for peace.

They directed the military chiefs in the region to reach out to Southern African Development Community (Sadc) member states on the matter.

The 16 nation Sadc bloc recently announced plans to deploy troops to the troubled region in eastern Congo for peace keeping.

The vast DRC, which joined the Community in March last year, is a Sadc member country alongside fellow EAC partner state, Tanzania.

The meeting between the military chiefs, the summit further directed to convene a meeting before December 8th, the expiry date for the EACRF in eastern Congo.

The military chiefs should after the meeting submit recommendations on the way forward to the defence ministers of Sadc countries.

The latter would thereafter transmit the recommendations to the next summit of the EAC Heads of State for consideration.

The Sadc leaders resolved in their recent meeting in Luanda, Angola to deploy a military mission to eastern Congo next month.

The EAC regional force, which was deployed in November last year, is made up of troops from Kenya, Burundi, South Sudan and Uganda. The force was primarily tasked to observe the withdrawal of the M23 rebels, which fought the Congolese army in North Kivu region.

However, the DRC government has urged the regional force to fight the M23, which is allegedly backed by Rwanda, an accusation Kigali denies.

Eastern DRC has been a theatre of armed conflicts pitting dozens of armed groups since the 1990s, often roping in its eastern neighbours.

Multiple interventions, including one of the UN’s longest and largest peacekeeping missions, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or 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 from December.

However, the Arusha-based EAC secretariat has consistently defended the regional force from a barrage of criticisms from Kinshasa.

The regional organization maintains that the joint military contingent has had a role in restoration of peace and stability.

“The EACRF has made tremendous progress in its efforts to restore peace and stability in eastern DRC as envisaged by the regional leaders,” the secretariat once said in a statement. The decision to expeditiously deploy a joint regional force to the besieged territory was made during the EAC leaders’ summit in Arusha in July last year.

Its mission was to restore peace and security following renewed violence from various armed groups, including the dreaded M23.

The EAC insisted that there were some areas in the troubled eastern edge of the vast DR Congo that were once in the hands of the rebels but now under the regional force.