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DRC: Tshisekedi wants MONUSCO out in a hush. Here’s why

2023-09-29 05:30:00

Bintou Keita (in black clothing) has been the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since January 2021. She is Head of MONUSCO.

President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo has asked for an accelerated withdrawal of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in his country (MONUSCO), more than 20 years after its deployment to the country.

While addressing the UN General Assembly on September 20, Tshisekedi said he had instructed his government to begin discussions with the UN on an accelerated withdrawal of the mission.

The UN mission in DRC is the most expensive peace operation in UN history. Currently, close to 13,000 of the original 20,000 troops are still deployed at a cost of about $1 billion (€910 million) a year.

Established in 1999, as the Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo (MONUC), the mission was renamed MONUSCO in 2010. The mandate remained the same; to protect civilians.

More than two decades later, operating in volatile DRC, the peacekeepers have consistently failed the Congolese population.

In their presence, foreign and local armed groups have increased from about five to more than 260, with the support of the Congolese national army and political leaders. They cause more chaos where hundreds of thousands Congolese have been killed by these armed groups, and millions displaced, under their watch.

Taking count of all these failures, the Congolese have, for a longtime expressed their wish to see the UN mission leave. Nothing was ever done but now, suddenly, Tshisekedi is giving them less than three months to withdraw. Why the rush?

The answer is simple. Tshisekedi wants the peacekeepers out of his country so he can effectively organize election fraud in December.

A political analyst revealed to The Great Lakes Eye that it would be extremely hard for Tshisekedi to steal elections if the blue helmets are still lurking in his country.

“The UN peacekeepers are not deployed to eastern DRC only, but in the whole country as well. When elections take place, the blue helmets act as observers, and report any incident, even though they do not intervene,” he said.

That’s why MONUSCO is a burden for Tshisekedi. They report all his failures to the UN, and the international community, and with elections around the corner, the only way he could be ‘re-elected’ is by stealing votes, as he has started doing.

The reason for Tshisekedi’s push for a quick withdraw of the UN mission is, therefore, obvious.

Additionally, with the withdraw of MONUSCO, Congolese citizens in the east will be left at the mercy of the numerous armed groups. By creating a situation of more insecurity and war, Tshisekedi will be able to use the latter as pretext to even postpone the elections if he senses he cannot win.