There is no soldier of the East African Community regional force (EACRF) left Congolese soil. The last boots flew out of DRC on Thursday, December 21.
The related farewell ceremonies took place at Goma international airport, in the presence of several Congolese officers and other agents of the defense and security services.
General Aphaxard Muthuri Kiugu,commander of the regional force of the EAC, said this departure from Congolese soil is consecutive to the end of the mandate.
Kinshasa did not want to renew the regional force’s mandate due to “inefficiency on ground in the face of the war between DRC army and the M23 rebels”.
The DRC is instead preparing to welcome the forces of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) onto its soil.
“The DRC authorities know that we are leaving Congolese soil. It is their responsibility to be able to secure all these areas in which we are disengaging until the troops from South Africa arrive. But, I must remind you that having the military, firing bombs, using force is not enough to restore peace,” said General Aphaxard Muthuri Kiugu.
“The job of armed forces is to find common ground between the belligerents. But, if we only have to rely on force, bringing in the military, that is not the solution. There have been several soldiers here for years. Let us all hope for the return of peace. And so these soldiers will arrive in Rutshuru, Bunagana and elsewhere,” the General said at the farewell ceremony held in Goma.
Shortly before flying to Nairobi, the commander of the EAC regional force thanked his troops.
“You are the last contingent to leave Congolese soil. I thank you for the work done on Congolese soil. Don’t worry or wonder why you are leaving the DRC so soon. It is quite simply because our mandate has ended. We are not running away,” he said.
“We return home after having faithfully fulfilled our mission. We thank the Congolese government. We thank all the Army leaders with whom we worked. If we are ever needed, we will be ready to return to the DRC to support efforts to restore peace in North Kivu and the East,” added General Aphaxard.
General Emmanuel Kaputa, representative of the DRC within the EACRF and deputy commander of this force, thanked Kenya for sending its troops to North Kivu.
“We have crossed winds and tides, valleys and mountains for the same cause, the restoration of peace. I ask you to observe a minute of silence in memory of one of us who has passed away. We thank Kenya for sending you here to work together. We wish you a safe return to your respective families, to your Kenyan army. Maybe we will cross paths in another regional mission,” said General Kaputa.
Since Sunday, December 3, the first soldiers engaged as part of the EACRF in the province of North Kivu began to leave Congolese soil. This force was made up of troops from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan.
