Story by John Nhandara
THE Southern African Development Community, (SADC) and East African Community, (EAC) this Sunday held a joint senior officials meeting to find a lasting solution to the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).
The joint senior officials meeting between SADC and EAC discussed strategies to achieve a lasting resolution to the ongoing conflict in the DRC.
“Our meeting will consider the EAC-SADC joint roadmap which details immediate, medium, and long-term implementation plans for our mechanism,” the Chairperson of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, Ambassador Albert Chimbindi said.
“I call upon member states to commit to the financing of this mechanism to ensure that it is operational and delivers its mandate for lasting peace and security in our regions. Distinguished colleagues, our efforts should continue to be guided by the UN Security Council Resolution 2773 of 2025, which states that, “among others, there can be no military solution to the situation in Eastern DRC”. We, therefore, underline the need for inclusive dialogue, given that it is only through dialogue that the underlying issues are resolved,”
Co-chair from the East African Community, Brigadier General Edward Rugendo highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in bringing peace and stability to the eastern DRC.
“The situation in the eastern DRC has been there for quite some time. Various interventions have happened. The East African Community Regional Force was there for one year,” he said.
“The SAMI DRC has been there for the last one year. We have all learned lessons from our successes and challenges. We need to exploit these lessons learned, and as we prepare for the way forward, put them in place to ensure that this time we succeed.”
The meeting was convened as part of the implementation of the directive by the joint SADC- EAC summit that was held last month to convene the ministers of the two blocs to deliberate on, and, address other residual issues relating to the attainment of sustainable peace and security in the Eastern DRC, and make appropriate recommendations to the next joint summit among other issues.
