The director of the UN mission, Bintou Keita, and the foreign minister of Congo, Christophe Lutundula, decided on Tuesday to terminate the peacekeepers’ assignment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
President Felix Tshisekedi requested during the UN General Assembly in September to withdraw the 15,000 UN soldiers stationed in the African nation. Declaring that “it’s time for our country to take its destiny fully in hand,” he bemoaned their failure to quell disputes in the country’s east.
Late in July 2022, there were demonstrations calling for MONUSCO to leave the Congo after citizens and officials there accused the organisation of not doing enough to put an end to the conflict. In Goma, North Kivu, on July 26, UN forces opened fire during a protest, inflicting 15 fatalities and 50 injuries.
A MONUSCO report states that the DR Congo’s foreign and other allies would help carry out the pullout in three phases.
“The plan for the MONUSCO Force’s withdrawal and the transfer of duties and responsibilities from MONUSCO to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are contained in this paper. Additionally, Foreign Minister Lutundula stated, “We anticipate a quarterly evaluation mechanism to enable regular stocktaking of the situation and minimise any sudden disruptions that could lead to a security vacuum.”
“Remaining determined to work with the Congolese authorities towards an accelerated withdrawal of MONUSCO that consolidates the gains made during the Mission’s presence in the DR Congo,” said UN Spokesperson Bintou Keita.
The agreement, according to Lutundula, marks the end of a collaboration that “has proven its limits in a context of permanent war, without the longed-for peace being restored to eastern Congo,” she stated on national television.
Prior of the country’s December 20 presidential and legislative elections, the problem of instability is front and centre. In his inaugural speech, President Tshisekedi accused Rwanda of undermining the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For many years, dozens of armed groups have operated in the Eastern Congo. UN specialists claim there is “substantial evidence” Rwanda is supporting the M23 rebel organisation, a claim Rwanda disputes.
Since1999, the UN stabilisation mission has operated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its main priorities have been to defend people from armed groups and assist the government in bringing the situation in the east under control.
