NORTH KIVU, Congo
Some residents in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo have rejected the proposal to deploy a regional
peacekeeping force.
On Monday, in the Kenyan
capital Nairobi, East African Community (EAC) leaders endorsed the deployment
of a regional force to help stabilise eastern DRC, a move that had also earlier
been discussed by military chiefs in the regional bloc.
But opponents of troop
deployment pointed to the chequered history that some of DR Congo's
neighbours have in the war-torn east of the country.
They instead called for
reforms and reinforcements in the Congolese armed forces (FARDC).
"We vigorously
reject" the EAC project and "call on you to give it up", the
citizens' movement Lucha (Fight for Change) declared in a letter to President
Felix Tshisekedi, citing "security, economic or geopolitical"
objections.
Lucha was founded 10 years ago
in Goma, the capital of troubled eastern DRC's North Kivu province, which
borders Uganda and Rwanda.
The group added in its letter:
"At least three of the seven member states of the East African Community
-- Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi -- have been involved for more than two decades
in the destabilization of our country, through interventions directly from
their armies or through armed groups."
ALSO READ: Residents of eastern Congo reject EAC regional force
All three named
countries, DR Congo's eastern neighbours, were involved in the two
civil wars that wracked the vast mineral-rich country between 1996 and 2003.
Kinshasa has already made it
clear it opposes Rwanda's participation in any regional force, accusing it of
backing the resurgent M23 rebels. Kigali denies the charge.
The Kenyan president gave
no details of who will make up the force, intended for the eastern border
provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri to the north.
Even without Rwandan involvement,
however, some in Goma are not convinced by the idea of such a regional force.
"I'm against it, really,
that's enough!" said samosa seller Tito Rushago on a street in Goma on
Tuesday.
"There are all the
countries here, Senegalese, Tanzanians, Uruguayans...," he said, reeling
off the participant countries in the large UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO.
Biker Patrick Bahati agreed,
arguing that the international UN force, present in the country for 20 years,
had changed nothing.
Several people interviewed on
the streets of Goma called instead for a "reinforced" and
"overhauled" FARDC.
The nation's troops needed to
be well paid and properly equipped, and corrupt officers replaced, they said.
For many in the region, it was
not clear how any new regional force could succeed where MONUSCO had failed.
"I doubt the
effectiveness of this force," said James Biensi, pastor of a church in
Bunia, Ituri province.
The EAC countries did not all
get along, he argued, and he was wary too of a "hidden agenda".
Raphael Wekenge, the
coordinator of the Congolese Coalition for Transitional Justice (CCJT) took a
similar view.
"I am sceptical about the
operational side of a force made up of countries that have interests in our
own," he said, speaking from South Kivu's capital Bukavu.
And Paulin Mulume, from the
Amka Congo collective of citizens' movements, argued: "We have
already had several joint operations in the east of the country, which have not
borne fruit."
He regretted the decision
taken in Nairobi, which, he said, brought back "very bad memories".
"We don't know what
prompted our president to get involved in this affair," Mulume added.
"It should have gone through parliament."
Judith Maroy, from Lucha in
South Kivu, was hopeful that there was still a way out.
"We think he (Tshisekedi)
will come to his senses," she said.
And in Bukavu, the Nobel
laureate Denis Mukwege has also come out against a "regional force
including countries at the root of destabilization, atrocities and the plunder
of our resources".
This "will bring neither
stability nor peace and risks worsening the situation", he warned last
week. He too called for a reform of the country's armed forces.
Mukwege, a gynaecologist and
surgeon who has treated thousands of women victims of rape in the conflict
region, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. - AFP
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