DR Congo agrees to retain East Africa Community Regional Force on its territory

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - The Democratic Republic of Congo has agreed to retain the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) on its territory, a spokesman for Uganda’s armed forces said Sunday.

Speaking to Anadolu, Deo Akiki, deputy spokesperson of the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), said that “DR Congo has accepted the East African regional force to stay on its territory. It accepted the deployment, and you should remember it is part of the East African Community.”

This comes after representatives of the East African Community and their chiefs of defense forces met in Bujumbura to review the performance of the EACRF six months after the decision to deploy.

On Sept. 9 last year, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi presided over the signing of an agreement allowing the deployment of an East African Community joint regional force led by the armed forces of the DR Congo in the eastern part of the country to fight rebel forces.

The force, according to agreement, was to be there for six months pending an extension if necessary, which has been done.

Since then, Kenya, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan have sent their troops to join the force, while the Ugandan troops are expected to be there before the end of this month.

Eastern DR Congo, especially North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, have long been hit by insecurity caused by rebels. Before the deployment of the joint force, the situation had been made worse by M23 rebels occupying parts of the region.