DRC: Foreign mercenaries hired by Tshisekedi blocking regional peace efforts

Author: Josephine Kalembe

• 2023-03-21 05:12:00

As part of ongoing preparations for war instead of respecting the regional peace process of negotiations, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s President, Felix Tshisekedi, has hired more than 400 foreign mercenaries from eastern Europe.

These mercenaries’ mission has been simple; to collaborate with Congolese army and a terrorist coalition, to fight the M23 rebels. But now their agenda has shifted to another mission, which is; to block the efforts of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) in bringing back peace to the region.

According to reliable sources, on March 18, these foreign mercenaries intercepted a van of Kenyan soldiers working under the EACRF, in Goma. The mercenaries called the Kenyan troops M23 rebels and went as far interrogating and searching them.

This uncalled for incident is indication that Kinshasa is eager to fan the flames of war in the eastern part of the country. It is one more sign that Kinshasa is shunning regional peace initiatives.

In an effort to quell the violence in the east of the country, in June 2022, the East African Community leadership, through the Nairobi process, decided to deploy a regional force in the volatile east of the country.

With the agreement that each member state will contribute troops, the regional force’s mandate was outlined as; to contain, defeat and eradicate all foreign armed forces, and other local armed groups that would refuse to join the political dialogue.

To date, the EACRF comprises Kenyan and Burundian troops. They are currently operating in the North Kivu province. Their mission has been to take over the areas from which the M23 rebels have withdrawn from, as a requirement from the Luanda, Nairobi and Bujumbura processes, and a condition to initiate dialogue with their government.

Despite all the good intentions, and the clear progress the regional force is making, the Kinshasa regime is not happy.

In January and February 2023, the force was dogged by protests in Goma, with angry demonstrators accusing the regional force of not fighting the M23 rebels.

Emboldened by their political and military leaders, including senior officials, rowdy demonstrators threatened the regional force to leave the country if it does not fight the rebels.

Soon enough, Tshisekedi realized that the staged demonstrations will not work. He is now using his hired mercenaries to block all the regional force’s efforts to bring back peace in his country.

As the December elections approach, Tshisekedi is running out of time and, he is desperate. He is also irrational.

A clash between his hired mercenaries and the EACRF will only escalate tensions, effectively boycotting all the peace processes he signed. This will only lead to postponing elections, which is Tshisekedi’s goal, anyway.

Tshisekedi’s attitude in ignoring the bloc’s peace efforts, refusing dialogue, and now going as far as attacking the regional force, whose sole mission is to help quell the violence in his own country, is the reason why a peaceful DRC will always be wishful thinking.

In this case, the fate of the regional force - that is clearly unwanted in DRC - is in the hands of other EAC leaders.