SADC seeks DRC-Rwanda talks to defeat rebels

LUANDA, Angola

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has said that it will intensify talks with the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to defeat rebels in eastern DRC.

Over the years, the two nations have blamed each other over insecurity in eastern DRC, with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame accusing DRC of supporting rebels opposed to his government.

On the other hand, the DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, which is made up mostly of ethnic Tutsi fighters from DRC.

The rebels claim their government has not honoured past commitments to reintegrate them into the national army.

On Saturday, SADC heads of state met in Angola's capital Luanda, where they agreed on strategic guidelines on how to deploy a peacekeeping mission to DRC.

Member states agreed to contribute resources, including soldiers, to the mission.

During the extraordinary summit organised to discuss the security situation in eastern DRC, SADC said it was concerned by the escalation of hostilities in the war-hit region.

M23 rebels have occupied large swathes of land in eastern DRC, and recently fresh fighting resumed, resulting in deaths and displacements of people.

SADC said the renewed fighting was a "clear violation of the ceasefire (agreement)."

The SADC member states also mulled over the pooling of financial resources, under the SADC Peace Fund programme, to sustain peace initiatives in eastern DRC and in other parts of the bloc.

Election matters also took centre stage during the SADC discussions, with the regional bloc wishing Madagascar and DRC peaceful voting in November and December respectively.

The extraordinary summit was attended by presidents Joao Lourenco (Angola), Felix Tshisekedi (DRC), Samia Suluhu (Tanzania), Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Hakainde Hichilema (Zambia) and Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe).

SADC is made up of South Africa, Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.