SADC leaders will have an unusual summit on Thursday to discuss the DR Congo conflict

On Thursday, March 13, the secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has announced that leaders will meet in an extraordinary session to address the security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In his role as SADC Chair, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa will preside over the virtual summit, the regional body said in its statement.

According to the bloc’s secretariat, the emergency summit of heads of state and government “will receive updates on the latest security situation in the DRC and deliberate on the recommendation from the Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit.”

As the chair of the SADC organ on Politics, Defense, and Security Cooperation, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan convened a high-level gathering known as the Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit on March 6 that included leaders from SAMIDRC nations that provide troops in the conflict-affected region.

This came after the EAC-SADC Joint Chief of Defense Forces meeting on February 24 and the ensuing ministerial summit on February 28, 2025.

Resolutions from the Troika summit are anticipated to be submitted before to Thursday’s meeting, where leaders will discuss the security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the SADC secretariat.

The decades-long instability in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is reportedly the main topic of discussion at the summit, with important points likely to center on the security of the area and the possible evacuation of soldiers stationed there.

Although the precise specifics and timetables have not yet been finalized and made public, the reports indicate that the proposed withdrawal will take place in stages.

A report from the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense, and Security will include updates on the situation, which has grown to be a major worry for the region, according to the bloc’s secretariat.

The announcement of Malawi’s troop withdrawal from eastern DR Congo was made just last month.

The South African, Malawian, and Tanzanian troops that make up the SAMIDRC forces are constrained to their bases in areas controlled by the AFC and M23 rebels. The rebels are regulating their own movements.

The rebel movement claims to be fighting for fundamental human rights-based governance. It has promised to eradicate the many evils that are pervasive in the army coalition of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including nepotism, tribalism, corruption, and genocidal ideology.