DR Congo’s president says UN peacekeepers must leave by deadline

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – The United Nations must accelerate the withdrawal of its peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) according to an agreed deadline, President Felix Tshisekedi said Tuesday.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has been deployed in eastern DR Congo since 1999.

The UN in 2020 announced a phased withdrawal of its largest mission to begin in 2024.

Tshisekedi set the gradual withdrawal to start before this year ends.

In his last state of the nation address ahead of December presidential elections, he said it is time for the DRC “to take its destiny fully into its own hands and become the main actor in its own security and stability.”

“Thus, MONUSCO's commitment to a staggered, responsible and sustainable withdrawal announced since 2018 and whose transition plan was adopted in 2021 must be implemented,” he said.

He also said that the East African Community (EAC) regional force deployed to quell violence in the east of the country must leave when its mandate ends on Dec. 8.

Tshisekedi has expressed disappointment with the effectiveness of the heavily funded UN mission of about 15,000 peacekeepers in stemming violence.

A series of deadly protests have erupted against the force, which people accuse of failing to curb violence by multiple armed groups in the mineral-rich eastern Congo.

Thousands of people in the two most conflict-affected eastern DR Congo provinces of North Kivu and Ituri live in camps. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​