The Congolese government has unveiled its defense policy in a strategic document. This plan should allow the rise in power of the armed forces struggling with dozens of armed groups, particularly on the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
The document presented on Tuesday, December 27 by the Congolese government provides for the creation of a defense industry that has not existed since the country’s independence in 1960. Immediately retired soldiers should form an army of reservists.
That’s not all. A cadet school for military vocations and compulsory military service for youth are also planned, in particular for those who complete the humanities “, details the Minister of Defense, Gilbert Kabanda. He pursues : ” We thought that a system of contractual military service should be established for certain scientific technical managers who would be assigned to our research laboratories with a contract of 5 years, 10 years as is done in certain countries. “.
Build trust in the military
This should allow the DRC armed forces which theoretically number 150,000 men to triple the number. The plan calls for the army to also be equipped with a system and frameworks against cybercrime and cross-border crime. Another innovation is defense diplomacy.
#RDC : Understand the axes of the rise in power of our army through the “document of defense policy”. With my defense colleague, Gilbert Kabanda, we present this document which crystallizes the vision of PR Tshisekedi for the @FARDC_off #BendeleEkweyaTe ???? pic.twitter.com/rU5I2NalzC
— Patrick Muyaya (@PatrickMuyaya) December 27, 2022
But one of the long-awaited objectives, adds Patrick Muyaya, the Minister of Communication, is the moralization of military life. ” Do you feel safe or insecure when you meet a military man at 11 p.m. ?, he asks. The objective is also to improve relations between the men in uniform and the populations “.
The plan is ambitious, but the authorities are counting on the military programming law to finance it. It provides about $1 billion for the defense sector.
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