Regional
SADC trapped in Tshisekedi’s lies
The
Southern African Development Community (SADC) got trapped into Congolese President
Félix Tshisekedi’s fabrications and agreed to deploy a force in the eastern
part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, hoping to restore peace and security there.
The decision
followed an extra-ordinary summit of Organ Troika, plus SADC Troika and Force
Intervention Brigade troop contributing countries Heads of State and
Government, held on May 8, in Namibia.
The summit
approved the deployment of a SADC Force within the framework of the SADC
Standby Force as a regional response in support of the DRC to restore peace and
security in eastern DRC.
Few
hours after the summit, Tshisekedi traveled to Gaborone, Botswana, where he
declared that the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) will have to
leave his country definitively in June, if the results of its mission are “not
satisfactory”.
While
the SADC’s resolution is hopeful in bribing back peace, it shows that the
southern African bloc fell for Tshisekedi’s crafted lies.
Related: SADC troops won’t solve eastern DRC crisis.
Here’s why
The
DRC head of state is trying to eliminate every kind of force in his country
that refused his wishes of attacking the M23 rebels. All he wants is an
offensive force that will apply military means, in spite of political dialogue proposed
by EAC leaders to end conflicts in eastern DRC.
Tshisekedi’s
declaration in Gaborone showed his masked agenda of pretending to be committed to
the peace processes while he is actually frustrating regional peace processes.
The
Congolese president has sabotaged all efforts made by the East African
Community to stabilize eastern DRC. The Nairobi and Luanda processes set
patterns to which Kinshasa and the M23 rebels had to go through to halt conflicts,
but at the end Kinshasa behaves like an unconcerned party.
In
an interview with France 24 on May 7, Angola's President João Lourenço who is
the mediator in DRC-Rwanda tensions explained that the M23 rebel group is
committed to abiding by the Luanda roadmap and was upholding a ceasefire
reached a few weeks ago. Tshisekedi claims that Rwanda is supporting the
rebels, an accusation denied by Kigali.
“We
have to be optimistic that the M23 will uphold their commitment,” Lourenço
said. Tshisekedi is not worried about hundreds of thousands of Congolese
civilians fleeing to neighboring countries, millions of other internally
displaced people and those dying as conflicts persist.
He is
overseeing the looming genocide against Congolese Tutsi, whose relatives in the
M23 rebellion are fighting the existential threat posed by armed militia including:
FDLR, Nyatura, PARECO, CODECO and Mai Mai. The FDLR are remnants of the
perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
The
EAC force was deployed in November 2022 to occupy localities which M23 had withdrawn
from in accordance with the Luanda peace processes, but Tshisekedi wanted the
force to attack the rebel group to satisfy his ill wishes.
After
dashing his expectations, Tshisekedi pressured and intimidated EAC force
commander, Gen Jeff Nyagah, who eventually resigned on April 27.
Related: DRC: What’s the implication of EACRF
commander's resignation?
With
Tshisekedi approaching the end of his five-year tenure and having nothing to
show the Congolese that he has achieved, he is leaving no stone unturned to
escalate conflicts in eastern DRC so that the December elections will be
postponed so that he stays in office.
Regional
leaders and political commentators have on many occasions shown that the
security crisis in DRC is an internal political problem that needs political
solutions through dialogues between all concerned parties. Even all agreements
between Kinshasa and armed groups including M23 noted the need for political
solutions.
By
SADC deploying an offensive force in eastern DRC to fight the M23 for Tshisekedi,
they could win a battle but not a war.
The UN
Mission’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) won a battle against M23, 10 years
ago. But the rebellion has reemerged because the war would not be won without
understanding its root causes.
By
deploying a new force, is SADC serving Congolese citizens or Tshisekedi’s
personal interests? Or, does SADC want to ruin all efforts made by EAC leaders
and downplay the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes?
Whatever the case, Tshisekedi trapped SADC.