Leaders of the EAC and SADC call for a political solution to stop the violence in eastern DR Congo

Leaders attending the extra-ordinary joint EAC-SADC Heads of State and Government meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Saturday, February 8, made the main call in their opening remarks to immediately cease hostilities and take constructive steps to enable meaningful dialogue in order to end the growing insecurity in eastern DR Congo.

Leaders underlined that the security of the large nation is crucial for both its stability and progress as well as the prosperity and unity of neighboring nations, with the security situation in eastern DR Congo serving as the primary agenda item.

As a sign of the gravity of the problem they face with the growing instability in eastern DR Congo, the two regional business groups have united for the first time.

Leaders in attendance at the meeting on Saturday included the host, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, President Paul Kagame, President William Ruto of Kenya, who chairs the EAC, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, who chairs the SADC, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Amb. Moussa Faki Mahamat, and EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva.

Burundi Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca represented the Burundian government. Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Congo, whose nation is the primary focus of the gathering, participated electronically.

“If we do nothing, history will judge us harshly.”

Tanzanian President Hassan said during the formal opening ceremony that the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has had a profound impact on neighboring nations, extending beyond national boundaries.

“As regional leaders, if we do nothing and watch the situation get worse every day, history will judge us harshly,” she added. Additionally, our nations have a shared obligation to make sure that we promptly handle the current insecurity issues that have significantly damaged the welfare of defenseless people, in keeping with the idea of African answers to African concerns.

The Tanzanian president called on her colleagues to be unwavering in their efforts to resolve the security issues in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, notwithstanding the intricate nature of the situation they are facing.

The deteriorating security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo necessitates “our immediate, collective, and sustained attention,” Ruto informed his peers in both regional blocs.

He said that “only collective action to facilitate a negotiated solution will offer relief” and that the recent escalation of violence in Goma, the capital of DR Congo’s North Kivu Province, and surrounding territories is a striking reminder of the growing fragility the situation presents.

Ruto restated a request that the AFC/M23 rebels and the Congolese army coalition, the parties to the “tragic conflict,” immediately halt hostilities and take constructive steps to enable serious discussion aimed at restoring stability.

“The only way we can establish the prerequisites for fruitful negotiations and the execution of a comprehensive peace agreement is by implementing an immediate ceasefire.”

Millions of people’s lives hinge on the leaders’ capacity “to navigate this complex and challenging situation with wisdom, clarity of mind, and empathy for the millions whose lives and livelihoods have been plunged into uncertainty,” the chairwoman of the EAC said.

Additionally, he urged the international community to take action and contribute to regional efforts to provide for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Clandestine’s global perspective in action”

He stated that it is evident that the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is intricate, sensitive, long-lasting, and involves several parties with conflicting agendas.

The challenges at hand cover a broad range of historical, economic, and political topics that extend back many decades and cut beyond national and regional boundaries, he stated. Additionally, there is a covert global component at play, whose enduringly pessimistic and damaging impacts cannot be understated or disregarded any longer.

Because of this, it is also evident that a fight of this nature cannot be settled militarily.

According to Ruto, the leaders must concur that the only way to bring about lasting peace in the vast, lawless nation is through a comprehensive diplomatic strategy “that addresses the root causes of the crisis, secures the historical integrity and territorial integrity” of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and affirms the sovereignty of its people and their aspirations for freedom, justice, and development.

The historic meeting between the two regional blocs is evidence “of our shared commitment to the founding values of the African Union,” the SADC chairperson stated in his opening comments.

Such cooperative efforts “must see us scale up bold and decisive actions to silence the guns on our continent, but most immediately, implement [a] lasting solution to the escalating conflict” in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to President Mnangagwa.

“We must continue to stand as firmly together as we did when fighting for Africa’s total liberation and independence from colonialism. We must have an obligation and a shared responsibility to honestly and thoroughly address the different issues preventing the people of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo from experiencing peace and security.

The leaders began closed-door discussions following the conclusion of the formal opening ceremony.

In November 2022, the EAC sent troops to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to aid regional attempts to bring peace back to the unstable area. The M23 rebels had made significant progress at that point, seizing huge tracts of land in North Kivu Province that bordered Rwanda and Uganda. M23 is currently a part of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), a bigger rebel alliance that was established in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2023.

According to the AFC, its struggle is for government that upholds fundamental human rights, protects all citizens, and tackles the underlying causes of conflict. Among other evils that are pervasive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, its authorities have pledged to eradicate corruption, nepotism, tribalism, and the philosophy of genocide.

By forcing M23 to retreat to designated areas and upholding a ceasefire between the rebels and the Congolese army until its breach in October 2023, the East African Community regional force (EACRF), which included troops from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and South Sudan, was able to create an environment that was favorable for peace to prevail. This reversed the progress that had been made thus far.

Tshisekedi, however, was crucial shortly after deployment and threatened to drive the regional force out of his nation. Since its deployment, the EAC regional force—whose authority was derived from Chapter 23 of the EAC Treaty and the EAC Protocol on Peace and Security—has struggled in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tshisekedi invited troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), also known as SAMIDRC, to fight the rebels after the EACRF left. From that point on, the security situation in eastern DR Congo deteriorated rather than improved.

The situation was made more complex by reports that the latter actually worked with the Congolese army as well as European mercenaries and militias like the FDLR, a terrorist group based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was established by former leaders of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi, to combat the AFC/M23 rebels.

Although it was beyond the M23’s operational authority, Kinshasa wanted the EAC regional army to fight the M23. Just over a year after being sent to aid peace efforts in the war-torn eastern DR Congo, EAC troops started to leave the nation in early December 2023.

The Nairobi process, which is led by the EAC, acknowledges that the insecurity in eastern DR Congo predates 1994, when a genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda claimed over a million innocent lives. This was made worse by the retreat of defeated genocidal forces into eastern DR Congo, where they regrouped to undermine regional stability.