NewsRescue
Bintou Keita, the director of the UN mission (MONUSCO), agreed with Congolese Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula on Tuesday that the presence of peacekeepers in DR Congo will terminate.
President Felix Tshisekedi requested the removal of 15,000 UN soldiers from the African country before the UN General Assembly in September. He claimed they had failed to bring hostilities in the country’s east under control, claiming that “it’s time for our country to take its destiny fully in hand.”
Protests demanding MONUSCO’s removal erupted in late July 2022, as Congolese officials and citizens accused MONUSCO of failing to take action to cease the war. On July 26, UN forces opened fire on a protest in Goma, North Kivu, killing 15 people and injuring 50 more.
According to a MONUSCO report, the withdrawal would be carried out in three stages with the aid of international and other partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“This document contains a plan for the disengagement of the MONUSCO Force as well as a plan for transferring tasks and responsibilities from MONUSCO to the DRC Government.” “We also plan to implement a quarterly evaluation mechanism to allow for regular stocktaking of the situation and to minimise any unexpected disruptions that could lead to a security vacuum,” Foreign Minister Lutundula added.
In a statement, Bintou Keita said the UN “remains 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.”
According to Lutundula, the agreement 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.”
As the country prepares for presidential and legislative elections on December 20, the problem of insecurity is front and centre. President Tshisekedi launched his campaign with a speech accusing Rwanda of destabilising the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
