SANF 08 No 75
Southern African leaders meeting in South Africa have resolved to provide “immediate military assistance” to the Democratic Republic of Congo where renewed fighting has displaced more than half a million people.
The regional leaders made the decision during a one-day Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Summit held on 9 November to come up with a regional solution to the current military and political problems in the DRC and Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the Summit, SADC Chairperson and South African President, Kgalema Motlanthe called for an immediate ceasefire so that humanitarian aid can reach those displaced by fighting in eastern DRC, which has been engulfed in recent weeks of armed conflict involving government forces, rebels loyal to General Laurent Nkunda, and pro-government militias.
“We call for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian assistance to reach displaced people,” said Motlanthe.
He added that SADC encourages dialogue between the governments of the DRC and Rwanda. The DRC government insists that Rwanda is backing Nkunda, an accusation which Kigali has denied.
Speaking after the Summit, SADC Executive Secretary, Tomaz Salomáo said the region backed the AU calls for a ceasefire and the creation of a humanitarian corridor.
“SADC should immediately provide assistance to the armed forces of DRC,” the summit’s communiqué said.
“SADC will not stand by and witness any destructive acts of violence by any armed groups…and if necessary will send peacekeeping forces.”
Salomáo said that a military advisory team will be deployed immediately to provide advice to the DRC’s armed forces.
Another team would be sent to evaluate the situation on the ground to determine what other assistance might be needed.
However, Salomáo said SADC would first assess the ability of the United Nations peacekeeping force to handle the conflict before making any further decision.
The SADC executive secretary denied reports that Angola had already deployed troops inside the DRC, but said SADC troops could be sent in quickly if needed.
Regarding Zimbabwe, SADC agreed that an inclusive government be formed immediately and the contentious Ministry of Home Affairs be co-managed between the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The SADC Summit came a few days after a one-day AU Summit in Nairobi, Kenya on 7 November which was also convened to seek solutions to the security and humanitarian situation in the DRC.
Seven leaders from Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan Tanzania and Uganda, attended the summit.
In a communiqué released at the end of the Nairobi summit, the leaders said there was an urgent need to stop the war and send peace-keeping forces to the eastern part of the vast southern African country.
The leaders recommended that a humanitarian corridor be established in North Kivu, where fighting has been intense to help refugees with food and shelter.
“There should be an immediate ceasefire by all armed men and militias in North Kivu,” read the communiqué.
Former Tanzanian and Nigeria Presidents, Benjamin Mkapa and Olusegun Obasanjo respectively have since been asked to mediate in the DRC impasse.
The two will report to the UN and the AU on the progress of peace in DRC.
Fighting in the DRC broke out on 28 August between government troops and Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), violating a ceasefire reached under the Goma Peace Accord, signed in January this year.
The agreement called for an immediate cessation to hostilities, disengagement of troops and the creation of a buffer zone.
Nkunda claims his CNDP is protecting Congo’s ethnic Tutsi minority from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia led by Rwandan Hutus who fled into the DRC after the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.
