2023-11-19 15:54:38
Gaston Mutamba Permission
On Friday, November 17, the Head of State, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi chaired the official signing ceremony of the agreement establishing the status of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) force which could soon be deployed in the east of the DRC. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula, the Congolese government is committed “to make available to this Force the diplomatic facilities linked to this type of intervention. This also materializes the SADC’s commitment to deploy its Force… This agreement defines the object of the mission of this Regional Force which will be deployed to support the Congolese army in combating and eradicating the M23 (March 23 Movement) and ‘other armed groups that continue to disrupt peace and security’.
The SADC troops come to replace the EACRF (East African Community Regional Force) force which was invited by the government to leave eastern DRC no later than December 8, because of his passivity before the M23. The EACRF deployed in November 2022 to North Kivu. It was supposed to support the FARC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) in their fight against the M23. Instead, they preferred to interpose themselves between the FARDC and the M23. Instead of continuing to use foreign armed forces, it is time to consider creating an army whose mission is to defend the integrity of the national territory and the borders according to the constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The creation of the Congolese army
It was on November 17, 1960 that Colonel Mobutu created the Congolese National Army (ANC), barely five months after the country gained independence. It was designed from the mutinous soldiers who had just killed, raped and pillaged the entire national territory following the independence of the Congo, on June 30, 1960. It would subsequently be renamed the Zairian Armed Forces (FAZ) . By vocation as much as by necessity, the FAZ wanted, from their birth, to be an army of deterrence, guarantor of territorial integrity. They carried out this mission through several feats of arms. They were used in pacification missions in several African countries. From 1975, this army became a shadow of itself. It is characterized by indiscipline, demotivation and tribalism. The premises date back to the day after a real or false coup attempt against President Mobutu, whom he nicknamed a “staged and failed coup d’état”. Anathema was cast on some young officers from major American and European war schools. It was then decided to dismiss from the army soldiers from certain regions of the country considered hostile (Katanga, Kasaï, Bandundu).
To protect himself, Marshal Mobutu strengthened his personal guard by creating the special presidential division (DSP). It was distinguished by abuses against the regular army and the population. This is how in 1977 and 1978, faced with attacks from Angola by ex-Katangese gendarmes, the national army, weakened and demotivated, preferred to flee. The lost positions will only be reconquered thanks to the assistance of the armies of Morocco and France with the support of the USA and Belgium.
Another “plot” revealed in March 1978 was an opportunity to further purge the army of officers who presented a threat to the regime. The army then became a simple instrument of repression of the population. The soldiers are poorly paid, poorly housed, poorly fed, poorly equipped… Armed with their weapons, they hold the population to ransom. The evil became so deep that general officers created several fictitious battalions whose pay they shared. They also divert operating budgets. Tribalism reigns supreme there. The general officers (encouraged by Mobutu) engage in a merciless war among themselves following the old policy of divide and rule. It was in this context that soldiers began looting industries and businesses in 1991 and 1993. In 1996, faced with the invasion of the country by mercenaries and armies from some African countries (Angola, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda…), the Zairian Armed Forces, demoralized and demotivated, prefer to pillage and flee from the enemy.
The birth of the FARDC
The armies formed after the fall of the Mobutu regime in May 1997 inherited the same defects. From 1998, each rebel movement formed an operetta army under the cover of the armies of the sponsors (Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Chad, Namibia) who were fighting on Congolese soil. Over time, following the merger of the belligerents, the Congolese armed forces (FAC) became, in 2003, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). Rapid promotions in rank which were not based on any feat of arms were made. Simple recruits suddenly become officers and even generals.
It was these armies that had to be assembled later. It was an integration of undisciplined, poorly motivated and poorly trained armed bands. In this context, it became hypothetical to have a national army capable of defending the country. This makes it difficult to cope with destabilization by neighboring countries, notably Rwanda, which militarily supports the M23 rebels. In 2012 this rebel movement even seized several parts of the national territory and the city of Goma on November 20, 2012. The M23 was finally defeated on October 30, 2013 thanks to the pressure exerted by the international community on Rwanda as well as a dazzling counter-offensive carried out jointly by the FARDC and the MONUSCO Intervention Brigade (United Nations Organization Mission for the Stabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo).
The creation of a restructured and dissuasive army is urgent. An army whose size depends on the financial means available. It must help promote security and stability. Lasting peace presupposes the establishment of a republican army, trained, disciplined and respectful of human rights.
Gaston Mutamba Permission
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#deployment #SADC #troops #Independent #Congo