The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi signed a defense and security memorandum of understanding on Monday (August 28th) following a 48-hour working visit by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye to Kinshasa.
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According to the final statement, the objective of this visit was to strengthen the ties of friendship, brotherhood and cooperation between these two neighbors. During a joint press briefing at the end of the visit, Félix Tshisekedi and his host, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is also the current president of the EAC, addressed the issue of insecurity in eastern the DRC, reports our correspondent in Kinshasa, Kamanda wa Kamanda-Muzembe. The Burundian president acknowledged the efforts made by the Congolese government to stabilize eastern DRC.
For Evariste Ndayishimiye, it is crucial for the DRC to find peace: “ The region will still be able to take the necessary measures so that the M23 actually respects the process, in order to ensure peace and security in this region. »
For his part, Felix Tshisekedi noted the change in the behavior of the regional force of the EAC. Deployed in eastern DRC, she had been accused of being passive in the face of armed groups. The Congolese president nevertheless points out that in certain areas, the M23 continues to collect taxes: “ We continue to observe a kind of laxity vis-à-vis the other contingents which, in particular, authorize the collection of taxes by the M23, which is totally illegal and unacceptable. »
Félix Tshisekedi recalls that insecurity has persisted in the region for 30 years, and that diplomatic approaches with all the actors – EAC, SADC and neighboring countries of the DRC – remain privileged to find peace.
Security agreement between the two countries
This Monday in Kinshasa, Alain Tribert Mutabazi, Minister of Defense of Burundi, and Jean-Pierre Bemba, of the DRC, signed a memorandum of understanding on defense, in the presence of Presidents Évariste Ndayishimiye and Félix Tshisekedi.
This signature strengthens the bilateral ties between the two countries and confirms the rapprochement between Kinshasa and Gitega, reports our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi.
The defense protocol signed by the two countries seems classic at first glance, as Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimye explains: “ The agreement mainly concerns mutual assistance between defense systems. This concerns training or border patrols. Moreover, we were already doing this before the deployment of the regional force of the Community of East African States. We want to actualize what we do together. »
In reality, this expectation confirms the strategic rapprochement between the DRC and Burundi, the only two French-speaking countries of the EAC, in this troubled area: “ Burundi and the DRC are like the tree and the bark. When you attack one, you attack the other. This means that even outside the EAC mission, there are other common defense missions, we have common borders. We have transnational criminals to deal with “.
Before settling in North Kivu as part of the EAC force, the Burundian army had been deployed, in August 2022, in South Kivu under a bilateral agreement with the Congolese government. With this in mind, she had worked to follow the movements of the Burundian rebels RED Tabara and FNL, still in South Kivu.
The big challenge remains coordination with other forces present on Congolese soil. Monusco also considers this relationship with the Burundian forces delicate because there is no formal agreement defining the role of the UN Mission, within the framework of this bilateral arrangement between the DRC and Burundi.
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