DR-Congo President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi chaired on Friday November 17 the official signing ceremony by the Congolese side of the Agreement establishing the status of the SADC force which will be deployed “in the days to come” in Democratic Republic of Congo, reports the X account of the Presidency.
“The Congolese government thus undertakes to make available to this force the diplomatic facilities linked to this type of intervention. This also materializes SADC’s commitment to deploy its force. This agreement defines the purpose of the regional force mission. This will be deployed to support the Congolese army in combating and eradicating the M23 and other armed groups which continue to disrupt peace and security in the DRC,” Christophe Lutundula, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said.
The SADC Heads of State met on November 4 in Luanda (Angola) in an extraordinary summit to discuss the situation in the east of the DRC, since the resurgence of the M23 rebellion.
During this meeting, there was particular talk of sending a regional SADC force to replace that of the East African Community (EAC).
On November 10, during the Council of Ministers, President Tshisekedi invited the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs and Defense ministers to do everything possible to achieve the effective deployment of the SADC force in the DRC.
Its recommendation therefore followed the conclusions of the 43rd summit of SADC heads of state relating to the deployment of the SADC Mission in the DRC.
