President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo questioned the mandate of the East African Community regional force (EACRF) in its efforts to restore peace in the country.
Speaking during a trip to Botswana on Tuesday, May 9, the DRC president accused the troops of working with the M23 rebels instead of helping the government to neutralise the threat.
He noted that the soldiers would have to leave if nothing changed since the results of the mission were not satisfactory.
The troops comprise the Kenya Defence Forces and soldiers drawn from Uganda, Burundi, and South Sudan.
".. under the terms of the EACRF's mandate, by next June, if the results of its mission are not satisfactory, this contingent, which came to the rescue of the DRC, will have to leave Congolese territory for good,” Tshisekedi stated.
“The mandate of EACRF is ending in June, if by that time we assess that the mandate was not fulfilled, we will send those contingents home with honour and thank them for having tried to bring their share of contribution to peace in DRC," he added.
The East African troops were first deployed to DRC in November 2022 as a pact between Kinshasa and the EAC. This essentially gave the soldiers a mandate of six months to assist the administration to deal with the threat.
The deal, however, expired in March 2023.
Tshisekedi noted that the EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki sought six more months for the troops - a plea which he affirmed it would be extended only up to the end of June.
Earlier, former EACRF commander Jeff Nyagah resigned citing threats to his life. The former commander claimed that unidentified individuals were deployed to survey his residence, forcing him to relocate.
This was, however, denied by KDF who insisted that he was redeployed. Shortly after his exit, Nyagah was replaced by Major General Alphaxard Muthuri Kiungi.
