The Southern African Community (SADC) has admitted that its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo went there unprepared to fight the M23 armed group.
These forces, part of the mission known as SAMIDRC, arrived in eastern DRC in December 2023, replacing the East African Community Mission, EACRF.
The uniqueness of SAMIDRC was that it was determined to fight with the M23, unlike the EACRF, which was required to take sides pending negotiations.
The M23 was never repulsed by the SAMIDRC because every time it was attacked by the RDC forces, it captured more. Among the main ones he captured from December 2023 are the parts of Rubaya, Nyanzale controlled by the FDLR and Kanyabayonga in Lubero territory.
While the SADC mission is less than two months to last a year, the member countries of the group sent military officers to Goma for a meeting that started on October 1, 2024, with the aim of evaluating its results.
Gen Maj Ibrahim Mike Mhona who came from Tanzania, said that despite people criticizing SAMIDRC's performance, their troops went to RDC without the equipment to go to war.
He said: “We are ready to increase our support to the [RDC] government forces. "When our troops arrived here, they faced the problem of lack of equipment to take to the site."
After seeing this situation, the Government of the DRC requested the United Nations Security Council that the equipment used by the forces in its peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, be given to SAMIDRC to fulfill its mission.
The United States of America has expressed its support for this proposal, but that SAMIDRC should be given tools that will not escalate the war in the DRC, while it appears that political dialogue is the best solution to this conflict.
The soldier explained that although some Congolese were not happy with the output of the SADC forces, "they did their best, helping the FARDC to recover from what had been taken."
Even the RDC military recently announced that it has taken out M23 units but did not specify what they were. This caused some Congolese to doubt the news.
