Burundi has deployed more than 6,000 troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a bid to allegedly secure the upcoming December 20 elections.

Following a secret bilateral defense pact signed in August by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Burundi’s Évariste Ndayishimiye, Gitega initially deployed over 2,000 soldiers in eastern DRC to support the Congolese army coalition to fight M23 rebels.

In early November, Burundi reinforced its troops in the volatile region with about 1,000 soldiers.

About 800 more Burundian soldiers were deployed on December 6, in North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces, to secure voting centers as well as Tshisekedi’s campaigning activities.

“Around 750 other Burundian troops are being briefed at Mutukura military camp, in Cankuzo Province. They will be deployed to Kinshasa (DRC’s Capital) for the same purpose; securing voting centers,” a source told The Great Lakes Eye, on December 8, the same day the mandate of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) ended and the contributing countries started repatriating their troops.

While others leave eastern DRC and head home, the Burundian contingent in EACRF – over 500 soldiers – will stay and join their colleagues in the bilateral mission whose main objective is fighting the M23 rebels.

Another bilateral arrangement signed in 2021 led to more than 1,000 Burundian troops being deployed to South Kivu Province, to conduct joint operations with the Congolese army against Burundian rebel groups, mostly the FNL rebels and RED-Tabara militia.

“Almost a whole Burundian army is deployed to DRC. Many [military] camps in our country are empty. If any enemy happens to attack Burundi, the country can hardly defend itself,” said the source from Cibitoke, a city located in northwestern Burundi, near the border with DRC.

Sources from Kinshasa have also confirmed that since DRC’s presidential campaign kicked off on November 19, Burundian soldiers are securing areas in which Tshisekedi’s supporters rallied.

Tshisekedi, according to sources, had planned such that as the polls approach, the main mission of all Burundian soldiers in DRC must be securing voting centers.

Tshisekedi wants a second term, by hook or by crook.

Congolese opposition leaders have warned that Tshisekedi plotted electoral fraud early by appointing fellow Kasaian Denis Kadima as head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), and unconstitutionally appointing judges responsible for solving possible election-related disputes.

Ndayishimiye backs Tshisekedi’s plan for electoral coup, as well as investing in war rather than peace in eastern DRC.

Since the resumption of fighting between the Congolese army coalition and the M23 rebels, in early October, Burundian troops were accused by M23 of taking part in the fighting.

November saw Burundian troops fighting alongside the Congolese army coalition being captured and exposed by M23 rebels. The rebels paraded captured Burundian soldiers to the media despite Gitega denying that it was fighting alongside the Congolese army.

Dozens of Burundian soldiers were killed and others injured in the battle against M23 rebels in North Kivu Province. Since November 29, the Burundian army has been repatriating its casualties.

Ndayishimiye, who was chair of the EAC Summit, should have supported a political solution to the armed conflict in eastern DRC, as the bloc’s Heads of State had recommended. But he did not.

By collaborating with the Congolese army coalition in violating regional peace initiatives, Gitega betrayed the EAC efforts to restore peace in DRC through political solution.