With President Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo calling for the withdrawal of UN troops from his territory, the East African Community (EAC) is courting the UN to support its force in the DRC.
Reports from the UN seat in New York quoted members of a high powered team from the Arusha-based regional body seeking the UN to fund its military mission in eastern Congo.
Dr. Mathuki revealed this when he spoke to journalists after a meeting with the UN Security Council on how the latter can extend financial support to the EAC Regional Force (EACRF).
The force, composed of troops from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan,was deployed in the troubled eastern Congo to quell down insurgency by a number of armed groups.
Among them is M23, an armed outfit, which has been openly battling with the DRC government troops after taking over a large territory in eastern Congo's North Kivu.
The regional force has been largely funded by the EAC partner states in addition to donations from some African countries that include Gabon and Senegal and others.
Dr Mathuki’s office said the meeting with the UN Security Council in New York “deliberated on the extension of financial and technical support to EACRF.”
“What has happened is that the UN Security Council is very keen and appreciative of the role of the EAC in supporting the security of the eastern DRC,” Mathuki was quoted as saying by wire agencies.
The EAC boss went on; “They (the UN) have agreed to work a mechanism that will support our troops in DRC. MONUSCO (the UN force) will soon close down or reduce their numbers in DRC."
Dr. Mathuki said his office will meet with officials of the UN Security Council in December this year to discuss "how much they will be able to get to fund the EACRF.”
The regional force was deployed to eastern DR Congo in November 2022 with a mandate of restoring peace and security and observing a ceasefire between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group in North Kivu province.
According to the EAC, currently the regional force, with troops from Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan, currently occupies the rebels’ vacated positions.
Early this month, EAC leaders extended the regional force’s mandate by three months until December 8.The region has been volatile for nearly three decades.
Multiple interventions to the territory from the 1990s, including one of the UN's longest and largest peacekeeping missions, MONUSCO, failed to end the decades of violence.
Since last year, the 25-year-old UN mission in the country has been the target of demonstrations notably in Goma city for failing to end the insecurity.
During his address to the UN General Assembly in New York last week President Tshisekedi called for fast-tracking of the withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission in his country by the end of this year.
MONUSCO, took over from an earlier UN. operation in 2010 to help quell insecurity in the eastern part of the vast country which joined the EAC last year, where armed groups fight over territory and resources.
The mission has become increasingly unpopular in the broader Great Lakes Region for what critics say is its failure to protect the civilians against the militia groups, often sparking deadly protests.
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