Democratic Republic of the Congo. – The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo criticizes the “coexistence” between the regional force of the East African Community and the rebel group M23-Spain

The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, criticized the existence of a “coexistence” between the regional force of the East African Community (EAC, according to its English acronym) and the rebel group on March 23. Movement (M23) in the eastern parts of the African country.

“In certain regions, coexistence between the EAC group and M23 terrorists was observed, which was not foreseen in the (deployment of the regional force) programme,” the president stated.

Thus, he stressed that “certain units of the regional force have said clearly after their arrival that they are not there to fight the M23,” at the same time that he demanded clarification of the situation and declared that these forces could withdraw. area during the month of June.

Tshisekedi also accused the outgoing commander of the East African Community regional force, Geoff Nyageh, who denounced the “threats” as part of a “well-organised and funded negative media campaign” against him, according to Congolese news portal 7sur7.

In this sense, the Congolese president stressed that Nyageh resigned “in an amazing way” and “surprised everyone by talking about threats.” “Why didn’t you share these threats with us?” he asked. before criticizing Kenya for “directly” appointing another leader without “consulting” with Kinshasa.

The EAC – made up of troops from Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi and Kenya – has been deployed in an effort to ease tensions after fighting between the army and the M23 in North Kivu province.

The March 23 Movement is a rebel group made up mainly of Congolese Tutsis and operates mainly in North Kivu Province. Following a dispute between 2012 and 2013, RDC and the group signed a peace agreement in December. In these battles, the Congolese army had the support of the UN forces.

The group launched a new offensive in October 2022, which intensified from November, causing a diplomatic crisis between the DRC and Rwanda over their roles in the conflict. Kigali has accused Kinshasa of supporting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an armed rebel group founded and made up mainly of Hutus responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

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