Malawi president orders troops to withdraw from DR Congo

Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered the military to begin preparing to withdraw from their peacekeeping mission in the volatile eastern Democratic of Congo.

The Malawian troops are part of the southern African regional bloc’s military mission (SAMIDRC) deployed to DR Congo to help tackle armed groups.

At least 20 peacekeepers, including 14 South Africans and three Malawians, were killed as the M23 rebels captured the key city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, last week.

President Chakwera said on Wednesday that his decision was meant to “honour the declaration of a ceasefire by the parties”, even though the fighting is continuing.

In a statement read on state TV on Wednesday evening, he said the withdrawal of troops would “pave the way for their planned negotiations towards a lasting peace”.

Malawi Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu told the BBC Newsday programme that the planned withdrawal was being “made in good faith”.

He said a meeting by southern African leaders last week in Tanzania, on the sidelines of the Africa Energy Summit, had passed a resolution “to call for a ceasefire from all parties in the conflict, just to pave way for peaceful negotiations”.

“It is pursuant to that agreement that the president of Malawi has seen it fit to contribute to the peace-building effort by withdrawing troops from the region so that there is that peaceful negotiation”.

He did not indicate exactly when the troops would leave, but said what remained were the “operational aspects” and that they had communicated the decision to the DR Congo president and the southern Africa bloc.

On Monday, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group declared a unilateral ceasefire “for humanitarian reasons”, which was due to start the following day.

However, fighting has since resumed, and the rebels have reportedly taken the mining town of Nyabibwe in the South Kivu province.

The Malawian president has been under pressure to withdraw his country’s forces from DR Congo in the wake of the deaths of peacekeepers.

South Africa has faced similar pressure, but President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to keep his troops in DR Congo, saying they are subject to the SAMIDRC mission “which has operational timeframes and an end date”. The mission was initially deployed in 2023 and was last year extended until December this year.

The SAMIDRC mission was authorised by the southern African bloc (Sadc) to have 5,000 troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania.

South Africa, which leads the mission, was to deploy 2,900 troops and the rest shared between Malawi and Tanzania – although it is not clear how many troops are currently there.

Malawi also has some soldiers in DR Congo serving under the UN peacekeeping force Monusco.

Sadc leaders are due to meet in Tanzania this Saturday in a special joint summit with East African heads of states to address the DR Congo crisis.

Bitter rivals DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame are both expected to attend.

Meanwhile, the Ugandan military has denied reports it has sent troops to eastern DR Congo because of the fighting in and around Goma.

Since their capture of Goma, the rebels have been seeking to seize territories in South Kivu, especially the capital Bukavu. Congolese authorities have enlisted hundreds of civilian volunteers to help defend the city.

The rebel group has appointed top officials including a governor of North Kivu, to administer the territory.

For the first time since they seized Goma, the M23 on Thursday held a rally in the city that saw rebel leader Corneille Nangaa address large crowds at the Unity Stadium.

A warrant for Nangaa’s arrest has been issued by a military court in Kinshasa, accusing him of war crimes and treason.

The UN says nearly 3,000 people were killed during the M23’s violent campaign to seize Goma.

There are fears that diseases such as Mpox and cholera could spread beyond the city.

The International Criminal Court has said its prosecutors are closely following events in DR Congo “including the grave escalation of violence over the past week”. – BBC