SADC meets to review DRC, Mozambique security situations

AN extraordinary summit of the SADC Organ Troika, Plus SADC Troika, will convene here today to consider progress reports on the region’s peace and security missions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.

Apart from members of the SADC Organ Troika and the SADC Troika, the summit includes countries that have contributed troops to the SADC mission in DRC, known as SAMIDRC, and those with troops in the Mozambican mission called SAMIM.

Both the DRC and Mozambique are also part of the summit.

The SADC Organ Troika is made up of Zambia, as chair, Tanzania, as the incoming chair and Namibia, as the outgoing chair.

The SADC Troika comprises Angola, as the chair of SADC, Zimbabwe, as the incoming chair and the DRC as the outgoing chair.

Countries contributing troops to the Mozambican mission are Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

For the DRC there have been troops from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania to work with the government in suppressing insurgency in the east.

Ahead of the meeting today, the ministerial committee of the organ held its extraordinary meeting yesterday to consider reports from security chiefs from the region, who were meeting earlier in the week.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava, who attended the ministerial committee meeting, said they received progress reports on the deployments and operations of the SADC missions in both the DRC and Mozambique.

“The meeting considered the security situation in eastern DRC and in Mozambique,” he said. “In addition, it considered the status of finances for the two missions and discussed resource mobilisation support from international cooperating partners.

“The meeting adopted a total of nine decisions drawn from the aforementioned agenda. These agenda items will feed into the Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled to be held here, in Lusaka, on 23 March 2024 (today).”

Ambassador Shava said the meeting noted that while the eastern DRC was relatively stable, acts of aggression by armed hostile groups and negative forces had the potential to aggravate the situation.

“As SADC Member States, we expressed solidarity with the DRC and pledged to capacitate and support the SADC Mission deployed in the DRC. Zimbabwe expressed its solidarity with intervention initiatives by SADC,” he said.