The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in the DRC, Bintou Keita, was received this Friday by the President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou N’guesso, to discuss the security situation in the eastern part of the DRC. The latter is struggling to improve despite the regional force EACRF created to stop the advance of the armed group M23. The rebels are still present on the ground. Faced with this, Kinshasa requested SADC intervention and validated the dispatch of troops in the coming days.
Despite the processes initiated by the sub-regional organizations involved, the situation has not improved in eastern DRC. During the hearing, the security situation was at the heart of the exchanges between the two personalities. Bintou Keita said in particular that Monusco would follow the desire of the Member States of the East African Community and SADC within the framework of the Luanda processes. She added that Monusco will work in good understanding, good collaboration and cooperation with the regional forces already there.
Despite this, the regional force EACRF, created in 2022 to stop the advance of the armed group M23, failed to recover the rebel strongholds. Indeed, since December, the rebels are still in place. Faced with this stalemate, the EAC region decided that its force would remain in eastern DRC until September and that an assessment would be carried out by June 15. This extension was not well received by the DRC, which considers that this force has failed on the ground. Kinshasa therefore resolved to turn to the SADC to put an end to this conflict.
In short, the security situation in eastern DRC is quite worrying despite the steps taken by sub-regional organizations and the presence of regional forces. Nevertheless, faced with this difficulty, Kinshasa validated the dispatch of SADC troops to eastern DRC. Case to follow