Ever since the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) joined the East African Community (EAC), in April 2022, its contribution to the advancement of the region has been more on the negative side.

The Congolese government has shown that it lacks the spirit of cooperation needed to take the bloc’s integration agenda to the next level.

The EAC partner states are expected to work together with the objective of deepening economic, social and political cooperation.

The east of DRC has, for decades, become a safe haven for armed terror groups like FDLR, FLN, ADF and Red-Tabara, which have destabilized neighboring countries, especially Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

The biggest worry and betrayal of the EAC spirit of good neighborliness is the fact that Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has openly supported some of these armed terror groups by incorporating them in the ranks and file of the Congolese national army, FARDC.

When DRC joined the EAC, it was bogged with decades’ long conflict in the east. The regional member states showed commitment and political will to help a new member overcome the conflict that has killed many and displaced about six million people, while more than one million are scattered in neighboring countries as refugees.

Tshisekedi tactfully skipped the 23^rd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, which saw Burundian president Evariste Ndayshimiye handing over chairmanship to President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan.

Tshisekedi’s absence was interpreted as a political stint to hide from peers who have supported him to stabilize his country yet he rejected the support of the East Africa Standby Force (EACRF), which is credited for bringing relative calm in east of the country.

The EAC Heads of State during their 22^nd Ordinary Meeting held on July 22, 2022 in Arusha, Tanzania, directed to expeditiously deploy a joint regional force - East African Regional Force (EACRF) - to eastern DRC to restore peace and security. 

The troop-contributing countries: Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda, committed their own resources, human and financial, to help DRC.

The regional bloc is proud of the work accomplished by EACRF towards the restoration of peace and security in eastern DRC. However, the Congolese leader stands alone in blaming the regional force for not being able to fulfill its mandate.

Tshisekedi does not show any appreciation and respect to the EAC member countries that sacrificed their soldiers and financial resources. For the EACRF servicemen who lost their lives, or were injured on duty, there is nothing that Tshisekedi gave as compensation, not even a mere vote of thanks.

Although the region and the world know very well that the security situation in eastern DRC is still volatile and the invaluable service of EACRF to restore peace and stability is still needed, Tshisekedi has declared that he does not want to see the force in DRC beyond December 8.

This is a clear betrayal and lack of appreciation of the support of EAC partner states that generously contributed to bring an end to the war in eastern DRC.

The refusal by the regional force to be used to fight against M23, which is against their mandate, was the point of contention that created tension between Tshisekedi and the EAC force.

The fact that Tshisekedi has resorted to inviting SADC forces to replace EACRF, first of all, is evidence that he does not trust EAC. His trust is more in SADC.

Sadly, Tshisekedi expects SADC forces to help him fight and defeat M23.  This would be history repeating itself with predictable results. The problem between DRC and M23 is a political issue that cannot be solved by military means.

If SADC is going to take sides in the conflict while EACRF acted neutral, then the southern bloc will only be helping Tshisekedi to dig his own grave and to escalate a conflict that is preventable.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has, on different occasions, advised Tshisekedi to hold discussions with the M23 rebels as the only way to end the conflict.

In June 2023, during a meeting with the parliamentarian committee from the DRC’s Ituri Province, Museveni urged Tshisekedi to “engage in peace talks with the M23 rebels” noting that “inclusivity is crucial for achieving lasting peace in the DRC”.

On July 24, again, Museveni said that the M23 problem is a political problem that can be solved by discussion because the rebels are not asking for big demands to end the conflict.

“I don’t think they [M23] are asking for big things. Sharing power or what, no. Their demands are simply ‘to go back to their homes which they run away from and to be integrated into the army’. How can this be a problem?”

“So, we are encouraging Tshisekedi to agree with them and if they do not want to discuss, then we can treat them as a negative force and act against them,” Museveni added.

All this free advice has fallen on deaf ears.

The refusal of the EAC support to return peace and stability in eastern DRC shows that Tshisekedi has no trust for the regional community he willingly joined.

Additionally, the Congolese President has unfortunately failed to honor the important peace agreements, namely: the Nairobi and Luanda peace initiatives.

This could be evidence that in fact, Tshisekedi does not want peace to return to eastern DRC as it serves his personal political interests.

Intriguingly, Tshisekedi betrays the EAC spirit of cooperation in pursuing regional peace and stability, but prefers to use his country as a safe haven for terror groups.