The presence of the East African Community Regional Force in Eastern DRC today is not as a mercenary force hired by the Kinshasa regime, but as a force sent by the decree of all leaders in the Great Lakes region. In the spirit of finding African solutions for African problems, leaders in the region came together and agreed to offer a helping hand to the people of the DRC; in a sincere effort to see an end to the perennial conflict in Eastern DRC. The EACRF is a product of several rigorous debates and efforts by regional leaders that happened in Luanda, Angola, and Nairobi, Kenya, whose principal objective is to finally find a lasting peace for the people of eastern Congo, so that all Congolese refugees can return to their villages, re-settle, and carry on with their lives.
For this reason, the EACRF must stay firm and assertive to resist the persistent efforts by the Kinshasa regime, i.e. to blackmail the force into turning into a mercenary force fighting the M23 Movement (which has not only expressed their goodwill to respect the recommendations of the regional leaders but also put into action their commitment to withdraw from territories they had captured).
There is no doubt that the Kinshasa regime is determined to sabotage the efforts of regional leaders. The regime has persisted in trying to put pressure on the EACRF to attack M23 Movement, which just shows Tshisekedi has no interest in peace.
As part of their efforts to blackmail the EACRF and sabotage the entire peace process, the Kinshasa regime has called on the populations of Eastern DRC, through the civil society, to carry out violent protests against the EACRF, just like they did last year, against the failed UN mission, MONUSCO. By calling for the protests, the Kinshasa regime wants the EACRF to arbitrarily attack the M23 like the UN intervention brigade composed of Tanzanians, and South African troops did in 2013 after the M23 Movement had graciously agreed to release Goma city, oblivious of a malicious plan between SADC and the Kinshasa regime.
Unlike SADC, the EACRF cannot afford to commit the mistakes of 2013 because the EAC has a lot at stake in Eastern DRC. Lasting peace in DRC means a larger market for the community, which translates into economic prosperity for the region and all its people. But to attain sustainable peace, the EAC has to be cautious to avoid a hasty and disorganized process that would end up producing a vicious cycle of regional conflict and insecurity in Eastern DRC and the region.
It makes military sense, therefore, that the EACRF has accepted to facilitate the M23 to conduct a coordinated, sequenced, and systematic withdrawal from areas they control because any other way would result in a chaotic process. Ironically, the Kinshasa regime, who claim to be supportive of the Luanda and Nairobi processes, are the same clique that is blackmailing the EACRF to sabotage the well-designed peace process.
If we should call a spade a spade, Tshisekedi is only interested in a quick fix aimed at achieving ephemeral political gains – to postpone the upcoming elections.