peace and security in drc tshisekedi s way or the highway president tshisekedi s government is not known to ever deliver on any expected results what they do have is an undisputed track record of chucking blame on others for the insecurity and grim living standards that plague the congolese people what the eac heads of state understand and tshisekedi has refused to acknowledge is that political dialogue that gets to the root of the problem is vital to addressing the m question after all m is one of the symptoms and not the cause of the crisis in eastern drc part of the underlying issue is the persecution of rwandophones and congolese tutsi who face identity based violence and are systematically excluded problems rooted in ideology can not be fixed with bullets what eac leaders offer and kinshasa rejects is an opportunity to create conditions for constructive and definitive dialogue to achieve sustainable peace in the east at the start of the conflict in eastern drc kinshasa rolled out a campaign accusing rwanda of supporting m and then it was uganda then kenya now drc officials are going on tours des bureaux diplomatiques mondiaux accusing the regional force of siding with the armed group on a recent trip to botswana the president without evidence accused the eacrf of colluding with m rebels to mount roadblocks to impose illegal taxes on the population at the strong behest of president tshisekedi rwanda was excluded from the eacrf this seems to have been a blessing in disguise as the world now has a front row seat to what rwanda has repeatedly pointed out the core problem in drc isn t a scarcity or failure of intervention it s an absence of state and effective governance the regional force has not failed it has been failed through a series of deliberate and calculated sabotages posturing from kinshasa would have us believe that insecurity in drc exists only in the east when in fact it s a widespread issue the teke yaka communal violence in kwamouth a city kilometres from kinshasa has forced local community leaders to petition the un to send monusco because the government has failed to protect them mobondo rebels groups have entered kinshasa where also kaluna gangs continue to kill hundreds maniema and katanga criminals operate with impunity and in ituri adf and codeco set the law of the land during his visit to kinshasa french president emmanuel macron aptly summed up the situation when he asked tshisekedi not to find the guilty among third parties to replace the regional force president tshisekedi has approached sadc whose deployment is expected to have an offensive mandate at this point the multilateral and bilateral military deployments in eastern drc are rivaled in number only by the staggering over armed groups that operate there some of which like fdlr are embedded in the government forces it s not just the eac regional force that ran afoul of kinshasa monusco has also received a cold shoulder faced with tshisekedi s many calculated hindrances even a legion of angels descended from heaven might re ascend in protest sadc certainly has its work cut out for them and will undoubtedly soon learn the bitter lesson that it s either tshisekedi s way or the highway going forward it s imperative that new actors being drawn into the drc security dilemma demand good faith from kinshasa because right now they are the biggest obstacle to peace authored by samantha teta political commentator and graduate of international security at sciencespo paris
Peace and security in DRC Tshisekedi s way or the highway President Tshisekedi s government is not known to ever deliver on any expected results What they do have is an undisputed track record of chucking blame on others for the insecurity and grim living standards that plague the Congolese people What the EAC heads of state understand and Tshisekedi has refused to acknowledge is that political dialogue that gets to the root of the problem is vital to addressing the M question After all M is one of the symptoms and not the cause of the crisis in eastern DRC Part of the underlying issue is the persecution of Rwandophones and Congolese Tutsi who face identity based violence and are systematically excluded Problems rooted in ideology can not be fixed with bullets What EAC leaders offer and Kinshasa rejects is an opportunity to create conditions for constructive and definitive dialogue to achieve sustainable peace in the east At the start of the conflict in eastern DRC Kinshasa rolled out a campaign accusing Rwanda of supporting M and then it was Uganda then Kenya Now DRC officials are going on tours des bureaux diplomatiques mondiaux accusing the regional force of siding with the armed group On a recent trip to Botswana the president without evidence accused the EACRF of colluding with M rebels to mount roadblocks to impose illegal taxes on the population At the strong behest of President Tshisekedi Rwanda was excluded from the EACRF This seems to have been a blessing in disguise as the world now has a front row seat to what Rwanda has repeatedly pointed out The core problem in DRC isn t a scarcity or failure of intervention it s an absence of state and effective governance The regional force has not failed it has been failed through a series of deliberate and calculated sabotages Posturing from Kinshasa would have us believe that insecurity in DRC exists only in the east when in fact it s a widespread issue The Teke Yaka communal violence in Kwamouth a city kilometres from Kinshasa has forced local community leaders to petition the UN to send MONUSCO because the government has failed to protect them Mobondo rebels groups have entered Kinshasa where also Kaluna gangs continue to kill hundreds Maniema and Katanga criminals operate with impunity and in Ituri ADF and CODECO set the law of the land During his visit to Kinshasa French President Emmanuel Macron aptly summed up the situation when he asked Tshisekedi not to find the guilty among third parties To replace the regional force President Tshisekedi has approached SADC whose deployment is expected to have an offensive mandate At this point the multilateral and bilateral military deployments in eastern DRC are rivaled in number only by the staggering over armed groups that operate there some of which like FDLR are embedded in the government forces It s not just the EAC regional force that ran afoul of Kinshasa MONUSCO has also received a cold shoulder Faced with Tshisekedi s many calculated hindrances even a legion of angels descended from heaven might re ascend in protest SADC certainly has its work cut out for them and will undoubtedly soon learn the bitter lesson that it s either Tshisekedi s way or the highway Going forward it s imperative that new actors being drawn into the DRC security dilemma demand good faith from Kinshasa because right now they are the biggest obstacle to peace Authored by Samantha Teta political commentator and Graduate of International Security at SciencesPo Paris