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Eastern DR Congo residents reject East African regional force

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Some residents in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where the M23 rebels groups have been holding sway for over six months have rejected the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force by the Eastern African regional body.

On Monday, the East African Community (EAC) leaders in a meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, had endorsed the deployment of a regional force to help stabilise eastern DRC, in a move that had also earlier been discussed by military chiefs in the regional bloc.

But opponents of the troop deployment have also pointed to the chequered history that some of DR Congo’s neighbours have had in the war-torn east of the country, and rather called for reforms and reinforcements in the Congolese armed forces.

In a letter to President Felix Tshisekedi by a group known as a citizen movement called Lucha (Fight for Change), the group said the country should reject the regional force citing security, economic or geopolitical reasons for the objections.

Lucha which was founded in 2012 in Goma, the capital of the troubled eastern DRC’s North Kivu province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, is one of the strongest voices in the country.

“We vigorously reject the EAC project and call on you to give it up because of the security, economic and geopolitical integrity of the DRC,” the movement said.

“At least three of the seven member states of the East African Community — Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi — have been involved for more than two decades in the destabilisation of our country, through interventions directly from their armies or through armed groups,” the letter added.

According to the group, all the three countries which are DR Congo’s eastern neighbours, were involved in the two civil wars that wracked the vast mineral-rich country between 1996 and 2003.

Kinshasa has also made it already made it clear it opposes Rwanda’s participation in any regional force, accusing it of backing the resurgent M23 rebels. Kigali denies the charge.

But even without Rwandan involvement, some residents in Goma are not convinced by the idea of such a regional force.

For many in the region, it was not clear how any new regional force could succeed where the United Nations peacekeeping forces, the MONUSCO, had failed.

Raphael Wekenge, the coordinator of the Congolese Coalition for Transitional Justice (CCJT) who also rejected the deployment, said:

“I am sceptical about the operational side of a force made up of countries that have interests in our own,” he said.

Paulin Mulume, from the Amka Congo collective of citizens’ movements, also kicked against the EAC forces

“We have already had several joint operations in the east of the country, which have not borne fruit.

“We don’t know what prompted our president to get involved in this affair. It should have gone through parliament. I doubt the effectiveness of this force,” Mulume added.

DRC’s Nobel laureate, Denis Mukwege, also voiced out against a “regional force including countries at the root of destabilization, atrocities and the plunder of our resources”.

“This will bring neither stability nor peace and risks worsening the situation,” he warned, also calling for a reform of the country’s armed forces.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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Nigerian Senate confirms influx of terrorists from Mali, Burkina Faso into the country 

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The Nigerian Senate has raised the alarm over the influx of terrorists from Mali and Burkina Faso who operate in the name of Lakurawa, into Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger States in the northern parts of the country.

The Upper Chamber, which raised the alarm during plenary on Wednesday, called on the military to set up early warning mechanisms to forestall further incursions by terrorist groups as well as maintain presence and vigilance in the affected communities to halt the activities of the terror group from spreading further across the region.

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent need for the federal government to take stringent measures to stop the infiltration of a group of violent terrorists, known as Lakurawa, from entrenching themselves in some northwest states of Sokoto and Kebbi,” and was sponsored by the senator representing Kebbi North, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and co- sponsored by Senators Adamu Aliero, from Kebbi Central, and Garba Musa Maidoki, representing Kebbi South.

While presenting the motion, Senator Abdullahi said:

“The Senate is aware that a group of terrorists from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, known as Lakurawa, has infiltrated the country through the Nigeria-Niger border, at Illela, Tangaza and Silame Local Government Areas of Sokoto and are from there, attacking communities in Augie and Arewa LGAs in Kebbi State.

“Recall that this violent gang of terrorists had raided and dispossessed these communities, prior to the large-scale invasion of Mera, a village in Augie Local Government, on November 8, 2024, killing more than 20 people and fleeing with their livestock, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.

“Senate is aware that Kebbi State government promptly responded by sending a delegation with relief materials to the affected villages and assistance to the families of the deceased.

“Aware that Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi North Central) and Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South), along with some members of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, have been to those areas, to commiserate with victims of the attacks on behalf of the National Assembly.

“Aware that if timely, adequate and decisive measures are not taken, this group can spread its reign of terror to other northern parts of the country and beyond.

“Notes the prompt response of the ministry of defence and the armed forces who despatched a well-armed military response squad that was able to dislodge the terrorists and secured the release of herds of cattle and other livestock stolen by the terrorists. These foreigners have invaded the country.

“We need to nip the situation in the bud, they have international connections, heavily armed with very dangerous weapons, the federal government should take the matter very seriously.

‘These terrorists are well armed with highly sophisticated weapons, this is a very serious matter on national security, they control the whole of Northern Mali and now attacking Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, and others. The time to act is now, we have to take action on how to tame terrorism.”

He said the Senate should revisit past resolutions on terrorism and send them to the Presidency for immediate action.

”I want us to recall what happened in the 8th and 9th Senates. We discussed extensively how we can stem the tide of banditry and terrorism. We made far-reaching recommendations, and we asked the Executive arm of government to implement those resolutions.

“It is still relevant for us to insist that those resolutions should be implemented, if we do so, it will reduce the incidences of banditry and insurgency in the country. We can reduce it to the barest minimum.”

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