The Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) contingent which is part of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) in DR-Congo, will remain in place until further orders, regardless of the EACRF mandate expiring on Friday, December 8, 2023.
The DRC government has since vowed not to renew the EACRF mandate, alleging that regional force troops have not engaged in combat with M23 rebels.
However, speaking to KFM, UPDF spokesperson, Brigadier Felix Kulayigye stated that their mandate was never intended to engage in direct combat with M23 rebels and that they do not believe the group is the root cause of the problem.
He emphasized that the primary issue in the DRC is political and requires dialogue.
“Our mandate was not to fight any force, but rather to create an environment for a political process. Now the political process was heavily dependent on the DRC government, and its protagonists. It turns out that some circles thought we had gone in fight M23. We don’t think M23 is the problem, we think the problem is political and requires a political solution.” Brig. Kulayigye said
On whether the UPDF plans to withdraw troops on Friday, Brigadier Kulayigye stated that their primary objective is to maintain peace in the DRC for business purposes and that they are awaiting new instructions.
“So have we started withdrawing? No, for us we haven’t, we are waiting for orders. Just like we were given orders to deploy, we shall wait for orders to tell us to withdraw, to stay, or whichever way. In the military, if there are no new order issues, the first order stands, so we are there until we are told to withdraw. As UPDF, as Uganda, our interest is a peaceful Eastern DRC, because a peaceful Eastern DRC means business for our Ugandans. That’s the only interest we want,” he added.
On Sunday, December 3, 2023, Kenyan troops became the first to exit North Kivu.
In 2022, M23 rebels launched a war against the DRC government, citing corruption, xenophobia, and discrimination as justifications for their actions.
The DR Congo government has since accused Rwanda of supporting M23, an allegation that Kigali strongly denies.
